Speed Limits

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average speed is of London bound traffic on the M25 during the morning and evening peak hours between junctions 26 and 30.

Tom Harris: The average speed of traffic on the M25 from Junction 26 to 30 is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Junctions  Peak  Average speed (mph) 
			 26-30 Morning 57 
			  Evening 48 
			 30-26 Morning 52 
			  Evening 54 
		
	
	The data is for weekdays only, for the hours of 7:00 to 10:00 (inclusive) and 16:00 to 19:00 (inclusive).

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operation

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many helicopters of each type were deployed in Afghanistan in each month since 1 January 2002; what additional deployment of  (a) Sea Kings and  (b) other helicopters is planned for 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: Information on the type of helicopters deployed each month prior to January 2006 is not held centrally. I am withholding the number of helicopters deployed as its release would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces. The following table sets out, by month, the helicopter types deployed in-Theatre from January 2006 to December 2007.
	
		
			   Chinook  Lynx  Apache  Sea King 
			 January 2006 Yes No No No 
			 February 2006 Yes No No No 
			 March 2006 Yes No No No 
			 April 2006 Yes No No No 
			 May 06 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 June 2006 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 July 2006 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 August 2006 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 September 2006 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 October 2006 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 November 2006 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 December 2006 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 January 2007 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 February 2007 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 March 2007 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 April 2007 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 May 2007 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 June 2007 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 July 2007 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 August 2007 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 September 2007 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 October 2007 Yes Yes Yes No 
			 November 2007 Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 December 2007 Yes Yes Yes Yes

Armed Forces: Health Services

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  by what means he monitors whether servicemen and women discharged with combat stress receive continuing treatment from the NHS;
	(2)  what arrangement his Department has in place for the transfer of the medical care of discharged service men and women to the NHS.

Derek Twigg: The Ministry of Defence is committed to doing all it reasonably can to ensure successful transition to civilian life. On discharge, all ex-service personnel are provided with a medical summary record, and this can be presented at the GP's surgery when they register with a civilian doctor. If the doctor has a requirement for the full medical record, we will provide this upon request.
	For the vast majority of service personnel these procedures are sufficient to ensure a seamless transition to the NHS. However, for those who are medically discharged with significant ongoing physical or mental health conditions, the care is formally handed over to appropriate by MOD specialists as the patient is medically discharged.
	In the case of physical illness or injury, social work teams at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre or the single service welfare organisations ensure this seamless transfer. For those with ongoing mental illness, the specific Defence Medical Services mental health team who have been caring for that individual will begin a liaison with appropriate civilian healthcare providers (e.g. general practitioner civil mental health team) to ensure that transfer of care and patient history takes place. Additionally, we have specific mental health social workers who manage the individual's wider resettlement issues, liaising with relevant civil agencies such as local housing authorities, financial authorities, service welfare and charitable organisations. These MOD mental health social workers ensure that the individual's transfer into the civilian environment is as smooth as possible.
	Since the beginning of 2007, we have also put in place arrangements for the Department's Veterans Welfare Service to monitor those discharged with a seriously disabling injury; this covers cases of both physical and psychological injury. While this monitoring is primarily focused on welfare matters, the service will also identify sources of medical assistance where appropriate. In cases where there is a mental health issue, this could include if appropriate a NHS/MOD Mental Health Pilot team, the Medical Assessment Programme at St. Thomas' Hospital London, or the charity Combat Stress.

Defence Estates: Charities

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  whether his Department charges charitable organisations for public liability insurance for events held on departmental property;
	(2)  what arrangements are made for public liability insurance for events organised by charitable organisations held on his Department's property;
	(3)  if he will make it his policy not to charge charitable organisations for events held on departmental property.

Derek Twigg: Under Government Finance Accounting Regulations (Managing Public Money), there are no special arrangements for the treatment of charities, whether service or other. The fact that a charity is to be the main beneficiary of a good or service is not in itself sufficient justification to introduce a special charging regime or to set charges aside. There is the opportunity for abatement of full costs and this decision is on a case-by-case basic taking account of any special circumstances that may apply.
	All privately-run events on departmental property, whether charitable or other are required to be covered by public liability insurance. This requirement is passed on to the organiser who is responsible for ensuring that appropriate cover is in place. Where commercial insurance is either not available or only at disproportionate cost, then organisers are charged under a Departmental Insurance Scheme.

Legal Costs

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent, in near cash terms, on  (a) legal fees,  (b) legal fees incurred in relation to land acquisition/disposal and  (c) legal fees incurred in relation to compensation payments, as listed in his Department's resource account code hierarchy, in each financial year since 2000-01.

Bob Ainsworth: The total resource costs of the expenditure items are set out in the following table.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Financial year  Legal fees  Legal fees—land acquisition and disposal  Legal fees—compensation payments 
			 2000-01 38.7 0.9 28.9 
			 2001-02 1.4 1.0 0.4 
			 2002-03 2.0 1.5 (1)— 
			 2003-04 3.0 0.4 (1)— 
			 2004-05 5.2 1.0 1.6 
			 2005-06 21.1 0.8 3.9 
			 2006-07 7.7 8.4 7.6 
			 (1) While the overall Operating Cost Statement (OCS) was correct, the balance relating to this resource account code in 2002-03 and 2003-04 incorrectly excluded expenditure to be offset by the utilisation of provisions resulting in an erroneous credit balance. (An estimate of the expense for the legal fee obligation is taken through the OCS in the year the obligation arises and held as a provision. When the obligation becomes a liability and the provision is utilised, a charge is made to the OCS and the provision is used to offset the expense in the OCS). The detailed data required to restate the correct expenditure for this specific resource accounting code has been archived and the restatement can be undertaken only at disproportionate cost. 
		
	
	Near cash expenditure is not separately identified in the final resource accounts or the centrally held supporting records. Total resource costs have therefore been provided; however it is unlikely that there are any non cash costs attributed to the expenditure items which would result in the near cash expenditure being different from the resource expenditure. The creation of legal provisions is attributed to a different resource account code to those listed in the question.

Military Bases: Carbon Emissions

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the total cost incurred by military bases in the UK in relation to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

Derek Twigg: On 12 July 2007, I placed in the Library of the House a table detailing the Ministry of Defence (MOD) costs for 2005 of participating in the first year of Phase 1 of the EU European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
	The table details MOD sites registered in the scheme, the number of free allowances, actual carbon dioxide emissions, scheme administration costs and additional allowance costs.
	Details of the cost to MOD of the second year of Phase 1 of the scheme, is currently being compiled and a table will be placed in the Library of the House when this is complete.
	Phase 2 of the EU ETS will commence on the 1 January 2008. As details have yet to be made available for the operation of the scheme it is not currently possible to compile a meaningful estimate of the likely cost to MOD of participating in Phase 2.

Biodiversity

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of his Department's ability to meet its target under the EU commitment to halt biodiversity loss by 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: It is important to stress that this commitment is not for my Department to achieve alone. DEFRA continues to work in partnership with the devolved administrations, other Government Departments, country agencies and non-Government agencies to meet this important target.
	It is too early to say whether the target will be met, but some very significant progress has been made. For example, 77 per cent. of England's Sites of Special Scientific Interest are in favourable or recovering condition compared with 50 per cent. in 2000. In June this year, assessments against a suite of 18 indicators were published on behalf of the UK Biodiversity Partnership. The publication 'Biodiversity Indicators in Your Pocket' showed that in all 12 areas where data was available, the situation was either stable or improving.
	We have been active in shaping the European and global frameworks for assessing the 2010 targets, and have developed our own reporting framework to fit with these.

Waste Disposal: Finance

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his latest estimate is of the funding for the Business Resource and Waste Efficiency (BREW) programme in each of the next three financial years; what funding the BREW programme has had in 2007-08; and what funding was provided in each of the last two financial years.

Joan Ruddock: The Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) programme was set up to give £284 million additional landfill taxes back to business over three years (from April 2005 to March 2008) through funding for resource efficiency and waste projects. Funding allocated for each of the last three years is as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2005-06 33 
			 2006-07 100.7 
			 2007-08 125 
		
	
	Subsequent funding of the BREW programme will be subject to future spending decisions, which will be carefully balanced with other departmental priorities in tackling waste and climate change.

Waste Disposal: Greater London

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Business Resource and Waste Efficiency Programme's campaign on waste crime in London cost; how long the campaign lasted; how many incidents of fly-tipping there were in each London borough targeted by the campaign in each month since 12 months before the campaign began; what the total cost of clean-up of fly tipping was in that period in each borough; what assessment he has made of the campaign's effectiveness; and whether he plans to extend the  (a) duration and  (b) geographic reach of the campaign.

Joan Ruddock: The campaign funded by the Business Resource, Efficiency and Waste (BREW) programme is targeting waste crime across 16 local authorities in the South and East of London and North Kent. The campaign began in August 2006 and is due to close in December 2007 at a cost of £265,000.
	The analysis of the campaign is currently taking place, including the impact on both the numbers of fly-tips recorded and the ongoing awareness of businesses to waste crime.
	The BREW programme was set up to give £284 million additional landfill taxes back to business over three years (from April 2005 to March 2008) through funding for resource efficiency and waste projects. Future funding of the BREW programme will be subject to future spending decisions, which will be carefully balanced in line with departmental priorities.
	I have arranged for the statistics requested to be placed in the Library of the House. The figures show the incident numbers and estimated clearance costs for each month from 12 months before the London and Kent BREW campaign started, until March 2007.
	Incident numbers and clearance costs have been obtained from local authority entries to Flycapture, the national fly-tipping database. Clearance costs are estimates based on a national average cost assigned to each size of fly-tip.
	Data for 2007-08 are not yet available.

Lone Parents

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department has taken to support lone parents in finding work; and what plans he has for further assistance.

Caroline Flint: The New Deal for lone parents has supported over half a million people into work.
	Our recent document "Ready for Work" sets out how we will expect more of lone parents with school age children to actively find work along with a package of measures to provide lone parents with the skills, confidence and financial support to both find and stay in work.

Pensions: Financial Assistance Scheme

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when his Department plans to publish the final report on the Financial Assistance Scheme: Review of Assets; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: I refer the right hon. Member to the statement I made to the House on 17 December 2007.

Departmental Labour Turnover

Philip Hammond: To ask the Prime Minister what the percentage turnover of staff was in his Office in  (a) the last 12-month period and  (b) the last 24-month period for which figures are available.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Gillian Merron) on 5 December 2007,  Official Report, column 1343W.

Departmental Manpower

Mark Harper: To ask the Prime Minister how many staff work in his Office's parliamentary branch; and what proportion of their time is spent on dealing with  (a) Parliamentary Questions and  (b) correspondence from hon. Members and Peers.

Gordon Brown: There are currently three people in my parliamentary team, they deal with all my parliamentary business, including correspondence and questions from hon. Members and peers.

Departmental Procurement

Philip Hammond: To ask the Prime Minister whether the standard terms and conditions of purchase used by his Office in the procurement of goods and services from the private sector prohibit the assignment of debt.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Gillian Merron) today.

Departmental Secondment

Theresa May: To ask the Prime Minister how many secondments of staff were made  (a) to and  (b) from his Office in each year since 1997; which organisations' staff were seconded (i) to and (ii) from; how many staff were seconded in each year; for how long each secondment lasted; and what the cost was of each secondment in each year.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Gillian Merron) on 5 December 2007,  Official Report, column 1343W.

Olympic Games 2012: Finance

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the existing contingency fund within the Olympic budget; and if she will make a statement.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 13 December 2007
	 I refer the hon. Member to my written statement of 10 December 2007,  Official Report, column 9WS; and also to the response I provided to the hon. Member for Maldon and East Chelmsford (Mr. Whittingdale) on 10 December 2007,  Official Report, column 19.
	As I said in my written statement,
	"the programme wide-risks and, and other risks outside the ODA's control, have been assessed and quantified and the contingency available has been confirmed as sufficient to cover such risks."

Chernobyl: Children

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Chernobyl-affected children received visas to visit the UK in 2007  (a) prior to 31 August and  (b) since 1 September; what his assessment is of the reasons for any difference; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: 3,167 gratis visas were issued to Chernobyl-affected children prior to 31 August 2007, while 111 visas have been issued in the subsequent period to 13 December 2007. The autumn is, historically, a slow period for such applications, 292 such visas being issued in the final four months of 2006. The Chernobyl charities advise that the Christmas holiday period is a busy period and UKVisas anticipated an upsurge in applications at this time. Application rates during this period may have been further affected by the collection of biometric data in Minsk. Furthermore, one charity was, temporarily, asked not to submit applications while investigations concerning one of its former hosts were ongoing. This charity has now been advised that it may resume submission of such applications.

Departmental Pay

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department and its agencies spent on end-of-year bonus payments in each of the last five years.

Meg Munn: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) paid the following amounts in bonuses to staff in the last five years.
	
		
			   Total bonus payments (£) 
			 2007 6,553,288 
			 2006 5,989,100 
			 2005 5,765,800 
			 2004 5,567,100 
			 2003 4,027,100 
		
	
	The FCO uses non-consolidated, non-pensionable, performance-related bonuses to encourage high performance. We pay annual bonuses to staff in the delegated grades (all except senior managers) based on appraisal evidence of annual performance. The highest individual bonus for these grades is £1,850 In 2007.
	Bonus arrangements for staff in the senior management structure (SMS/senior civil service equivalent) follow a framework set for Whitehall Departments by the Cabinet Office. We use SMS bonuses to reward excellent performance and achievement during the year. The bonuses are based on a judgment by pay committees of what an individual has achieved in comparison with peers. Those who have delivered the best results, and shown real leadership in doing so, receive the biggest bonuses. Those who have delivered least receive nothing. Whitehall Departments were authorised to spend a sum equivalent to 7.6 per cent. of their SMS pay budget on non-consolidated bonuses for senior staff in 2007.

European Gendarmerie Force

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will raise with colleagues at the European Council the conditions that will be applied to any use of the European Gendarmerie Force if placed at the disposal of the European Union, in relation to its  (a) uniforms and emblems,  (b) recruitment,  (c) training and  (d) weaponry; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: The primary purpose of the European Gendarmerie Force (EGF) is to assist in crisis management operations in post-conflict situations. The UK does not have a Gendarmerie style paramilitary police force and therefore does not participate in the (EGF).
	The EGF is not an EU proposal or agency. While it may be put at the disposal of the EU, it has been established outside of EU structures,, and may equally be made available to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the UN, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and other international organisations or an ad hoc coalition. It would be for each respective organisation or coalition and the requesting state to determine which conditions, if any, they thought most appropriate for the requested mission.
	In addition, Article 16 of the Treaty Establishing the EGF states:
	1. EUROGENDFOR Personnel shall wear their uniform in accordance with their respective national rules. The EGF Commander may establish specific procedures where appropriate.
	2. EUROGENDFOR Personnel may possess, carry and transport arms, ammunitions, other weapon systems and explosives on the conditions that they are authorised to do so by their orders and that they do so in accordance with the laws of the Host State and the Receiving State.

Russia: British Council

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Russian government against the closure of British Council offices in Russia.

Jim Murphy: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on 13 December 2007,  Official Report, column 56WS, about Russia's threat to close the British Council's regional offices in Russia on 1 January 2008. The Government are urging the Russian authorities to reconsider their decision, which would be detriment to the development of cultural links; severely affect the Russian population who benefit from the British Council's presence; and damage the Russian Government's reputation.
	This is not just a bilateral issue. It strikes to the heart of the EU-Russia relationship, given the prominence of culture, education and science in the EU-Russia Partnership and Co-operation Agreement. As such, the Government have successfully engaged European partners to show support for the British Council. The president of the EU National Institutes for Culture wrote to the Minister of Culture for the Russian Federation on 12 December 2007, condemning Russia's threats and voicing strong concern for all national institutes for culture from EU countries working in Russia. On behalf of EU member states, he described the threat as a continuation of a series of obstacles which some of these institutes have to face and urged Russia to reconsider its decision.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has committed to keeping the House fully informed of developments.

Overseas Aid

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of the role of diaspora communities in the UK in helping to alleviate poverty in the developing world; and what steps his Department is taking to co-ordinate contributions from these communities.

Shahid Malik: DFID recognises the contribution that diaspora communities in the UK can make to poverty alleviation. This recognition is reflected in DFID's first White Paper, and more recently in its migration and development policy paper, "Moving out of poverty: Making Migration work for poor people".
	To enhance this contribution we have engaged with diaspora communities in several ways. For example, we have consulted diaspora communities when developing country assistance plans and relevant policies. We have also facilitated the transfer of formal remittances by supporting the creation of the "sendmoneyhome.org" website and the creation of the UK remittances taskforce. These seek to reduce remittance transfer costs and tackle barriers to remittance flows from diaspora communities to their countries of origin.
	Since 2003, DFID has sought to help diaspora organisations co-ordinate their contribution to international development by supporting the formation of the network organisation, Connections For Development (CfD) through a strategic grant agreement (SGA) - value approximately £980,000. CfD engages in the development of policy and country programmes, as well as building awareness and understanding of development in the UK.
	In 2006 DFID announced in 2006 a new volunteering initiative designed to engage diaspora communities in development DFID will launch a new £3 million diaspora volunteering scheme in early 2008. The objective of the programme is to give people from these communities the opportunity to make a personal contribution to development and pass on their learning through a range of development awareness activities on return to the UK.

Ambulance Services: Hampshire

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 11 December 2007,  Official Report, columns 493-94W, on ambulance services: Hampshire, how he monitors ambulance trusts' performance against response time targets; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: National health service ambulance trusts are required to meet the following response times:
	Category A (presenting conditions which may be immediately life threatening): calls should be responded to within eight minutes irrespective of location, in 75 per cent. of cases. A fully equipped ambulance should also attend incidents classified as category A within 19 minutes of a request being made for transport, 95 per cent. of the time.
	Category B (presenting conditions which though serious are not immediately life threatening): calls should be responded to within 19 minutes in 95 per cent. of cases.
	Response time data is collected by ambulance trusts and published annually. The latest statistical bulletin, Ambulance Services, England, 2006-07 was published in June 2007. A copy is available in the Library.
	Since 1 October 2004 local NHS organisations have had responsibility for managing and monitoring the ways in which local services respond to Category C (presenting conditions which are not immediately serious or life threatening) calls.

Cancer: Death

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health further to the statement in paragraph 1.4 of his Department's Cancer Reform Strategy on the fall in cancer mortality in under 75s between 1996 and 2005, what the drop in cancer mortality in people under 75 years was in the equivalent period before 1996; and how many lives were saved by the reduction in cancer mortality over this period.

Ann Keen: holding answer 17 December 2007
	"Lives saved' is an assessment of the cumulative effect of year on year reductions to the numbers of deaths in a specific age group and from a specific cause of death. In this case, it relates to deaths from cancer at ages under 75. It is calculated by subtracting from the number of deaths that occurred in the first year of the period, the number of deaths registered in each subsequent year, and then totalling the differences.
	The cancer mortality target rate is calculated using three-year moving averages. In order to make concise statements, the three-year periods are sometimes referred to by the middle year of the period, this convention has been used in the first bullet point in paragraph 1.4 of the Cancer Reform Strategy. From the baseline in 1995-96-97 to the most recent period, 2004-05-06, the cancer mortality rate in people aged under 75 in England has fallen by over 17 per cent.
	Lives saved are calculated using single year data. The middle year of the baseline period, 1996, is used as the baseline. Using single year data, to the most recent period, 2006, there were approximately 60,000 lives saved, compared to 1996.
	The equivalent period before 1996 is 1985 to 1995. From 1984-85-86 to 1993-94-95 cancer mortality in people under age 75 in England fell by almost 10 per cent. With 1985 as the baseline, this equates to approximately 35,000 lives saved between 1985 and 1995.

Children: Greater London

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the risks to the health of children in London from the level of performance of the Child Health Interim Application system.

Ben Bradshaw: BTs provision of an interim child health system pending delivery of a long-term solution reduced the risks arising from the 10 primary care trusts (PCTs) concerned being left with no system following the decision by the previous commercial child health system supplier to withdraw its product from the market.
	In the period following implementation of the Child Health Interim Application (CHIA) system, figures generated for the Health Protection Agency's Cover of Vaccination Evaluated Rapidly (COVER) reports indicated that the uptake of immunisations had dropped. However, there is no evidence of any causal relationship with the CHIA implementation.
	To mitigate any risks arising from this drop, an immunisation uptake audit was undertaken across the 10 PCTs who were using CHIA in London. The initial findings from the audit show that a significant number of children who appeared in the system as unimmunised had actually received their immunisations. There were also a number of children who had not been immunised, but the audit revealed a number of reasons, unconnected with the computer system changes, why this was the case.
	Each of the 10 PCTs is now undertaking an immunisation catch-up programme which aims to complete by March 2008.

Departmental Land

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what land surplus to his Department's requirements it is  (a) selling,  (b) leasing and  (c) intending to (i) sell and (ii) lease; and what the size and name of each relevant site is.

Ben Bradshaw: The information in the following tables shows the detail of the more substantial properties in the ownership of the Secretary of State, that the Department is either selling or leasing or intending to sell or lease.
	The following table shows the sites the Department is selling:
	
		
			  Property  Area (hectares) 
			 Queen Elizabeth hospital, Hackney 0.63 
			 332 High Road, Tottenham 0.10 
			 Dog Kennel Wood, Maidstone 2.15 
			 10 Woodside, Plymouth 0.05 
			 22-38 Princes Road, Redhill 0.16 
			 Land at South Elmsall, Wakefield 1.38 
			 Land at Norton Banks, Keighley 2.33 
			 Part Little Plumstead hospital, Norwich 24.71 
			 Northern View, Bradford 2.89 
			 Land at Victoria hospital, Worksop 0.44 
			 Warwick Cottage, Melton Mowbray 0.1 
			 30 Paul Road, Bodmin 0.05 
			 35 Higher Kingston, Yeovil 0.05 
			 Houses in Surrey 1.00 
			 St James' Court, Balham 0.24 
		
	
	There are no sites, which the Department is Leasing.
	The following are sites that the Department is intending to sell:
	
		
			  Property  Area (hectares) 
			 Land at Napsbury, St Albans 8.49 
			 Part Park Prewett hospital, Basingstoke 1.66 
			 Land at Woodside, Plymouth 0.11 
			 Lakeview Close, Walsall 1.40 
			 Part Royal Shrewsbury hospital, Shrewsbury (1)— 
			 Part Harperbury hospital, Radlett 36.8 
			 Land at Harwich hospital, Harwich 0.76 
			 Harp Close Meadow, Sudbury 1.31 
			 Primrose Lane, Huntington 0.72 
			 Horton House, Epsom 0.44 
			 White Hart, Harrogate 0.33 
			 Hazel Court, Battersea 0.22 
			 Eagle Cottage, Jarrow 0.05 
			 63/65 Bardsley Drive, Farnham 0.05 
			 Land at Crone Hills Health Centre, West Bromwich 0.05 
			 Land at Wellington hospital, Telford 0.10 
			 Garrett Lane, Wandsworth 0.05 
			 (1 )To be determined 
		
	
	There are no sites which the Department intends to lease.

Drugs: Olympic Games 2012

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that members of teams competing in the 2012 Olympics  (a) do not bring proscribed drugs or medicines into the UK prior to competition,  (b) do not dispose of unused drugs or medicines on the UK market during competition and  (c) remove all unused imported drugs and medicines from the UK on departure; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The import and export of controlled drugs is prohibited under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, except under licence from the Home Office.
	Medicines for human use are controlled in the United Kingdom by the 1968 Medicines Act and supporting regulations. Under the provisions of the Medicines Act, prescription-only medicines may be imported or exported to or from the UK by an individual for their personal use.
	Any medicinal product which is brought into the UK by an individual for his or her own use or that of a member of his/her family is not 'placed on the market'. Accordingly, it is not subject to the controls of medicines legislation. Any onward sale or supply by an individual however, would place the product on the market and bring it within the scope of regulatory control. The Medicines Act contains provisions to enforce the legislative requirements, offences are criminal and prosecutions may be brought through the criminal courts.

Health: Children

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what manual systems are being used by primary care trusts (PCTs) to support the Child Health Interim Applications (CHIA) system; and whether PCTs using the CHIA system are able to issue COVER reports;
	(2)  with reference to the answer of 8 January 2007,  Official Report, column 24W, on the Child Health Interim Application, what software was provided to enable primary care trusts to generate COVER reports from the live system; and when it was provided;
	(3)  with reference to the answer of 25 July 2006,  Official Report, column 1202W, on child health interim application (CHIA), for what reasons Connecting for Health and the London Strategic Health Authority have not produced reports from the raw data within CHIA for the COVER quarterly and annual returns.

Ben Bradshaw: Since May 2006 reports have been produced for the Cover of Vaccination Evaluated Rapidly (COVER) quarterly and annual returns from an extract of the raw data taken directly from the child health interim application (CHIA). The data required to submit COVER returns, which is a primary care trust (PCT) responsibility, is provided to the PCTs which use the CHIA system by BT, the system supplier. The data are taken from the live system and therefore reflect the information stored on CHIA at the point the data are extracted. Each PCT will use different manual systems dependent on their current business processes.
	While all parties recognise that this situation is not ideal, the PCTs have indicated that they are satisfied with this approach as an interim solution. On migration to the RiO system, PCTs will be able to generate reports themselves. All PCTs using CHIA are expected to migrate to RiO by the end of 2008.

Health: Children

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which primary care trusts (PCTs) in London use the Child Health Interim Applications system; and what other systems are used for the same purpose in each other London PCT.

Ben Bradshaw: 22 of London's primary care trusts (PCTs) use a child health system delivered by the London programme for information technology (LPfTT). The following 10 PCTs use the child health interim application (CHIA) system: Barking and Dagenham, Camden, City and Hackney, Haringey, Havering, Islington, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forrest.
	The following PCTs use the child health functionality of CSE Servelec's RiO system, also delivered by LPfIT: Barnet; Ealing; Enfield; Greenwich; Hammersmith and Fulham; Hounslow; Lambeth; Lewisham, Richmond; Westminster; Southwark; Sutton and Merton.
	Currently, the remaining PCTs in London use the following systems to support child health services: Bexley—McKesson; Brent—Continuum; Bromley—Totalcare; Croydon—EPEX (Ascribe); Harrow—Health Solutions Wales Community Child Health 2000 System; Hillingdon—Health Solutions Wales Community Child Health 2000 System; Kensington and Chelsea—Continuum; Kingston—McKesson child health; and Wandsworth—Comwise.

Industrial Diseases

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of industrial disease prevalence in determining resource allocation in the NHS.

Ben Bradshaw: There is no specific consideration made for industrial disease prevalence in determining resource allocations to primary care trusts (PCTs) but industrial disease will be picked up in the models of utilisation of health care in the additional need element of the formula.
	A weighted capitation formula is used to determine PCTs' target shares of available resources, to enable them to commission similar levels of health services for populations in similar need.
	The components of the formula are used to weight each PCT's 'crude' population according to their relative need (age, and additional need) for health care and the unavoidable geographical differences in the cost of providing health care (market forces factor).
	The additional need element of the formula is intended to reflect the relative need for health care over and above that accounted for by age. The need weighting takes the form of indices fro two broad service areas:
	acute and maternity;
	mental health.
	The indices are based on models of utilisation of health care and comprise a number of socio-economic and health related variables. There are two different groups of variables included in these models:
	standard variables derived from small area statistical modelling of utilisation; and
	additional morbidity variables designed to capture some of the effect of unmet need where ethnic minority groups and low income groups do not receive healthcare services to the same level to that of others with similar health characteristics.
	For further information on the weighted-capitation formula, please refer to 'Resource Allocation: Weighted Capitation Formula (Fifth edition)'. A copy is available in the Library, and can also be accessed at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/allocations.

Medical Records: Databases

Jeremy Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which categories of NHS staff working outside GP surgeries will have direct access to information in detailed care records created by clinicians working in a GP surgery; and which of those staff categories will be authorised to override patients' wishes expressed through sealed envelope software.

Ben Bradshaw: Individuals from outside the general practitioner's practice will only be able to access a patient's detailed care record, where they are working within a local health community where patient records are managed through a shared detailed record system and where they have a smartcard and role profile that enables access to patient records and also have a legitimate relationship with the patient. For example because they are providing healthcare or treatment in a different setting, or they have express consent from the patient for other reasons, for example clinical research, or there is a statutory basis or court order supporting disclosure.
	Patients may also request that a flag within the system be set to prevent information being accessed by anyone outside of the practice without their express consent other than where there is a legal requirement to do so, or an overriding public interest such as serious crime.
	A patient's wishes regarding a sealed envelope can only be overridden exceptionally by staff who have been specifically granted the ability to do so by their employing organisations as part of their assigned role profile. When they do override a seal they must record whether their action is justified by express patient consent, a legal requirement, or an overriding public interest, and this will subsequently be checked by the employing body.

Mental Health Services: Greater London

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time was for a first appointment with a mental health professional following referral by a GP in the last five years, broken down by London mental health trust; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The information is not available in the format requested. Waiting times can only be calculated back to 2005 as prior to this, data was only collected for waits over 13 weeks. The available information has been set out in the tables.
	Waiting time data is collected for consultant led out-patient appointments, but recently more work is being done by multi disciplinary teams. Therefore waiting lists have fallen for mental health specialties. Furthermore, as numbers are small, data for average waits cannot be calculated for all trusts.
	Furthermore, in-patient psychiatric activity has fallen over time as we have established more than 700 new mental health teams providing community based care as an alternative to acute in-patient care.
	
		
			  Out-patient waiting list statistics for mental health specialties for London provider trusts 
			 Not yet seen at the end of the month who are still waiting 
			  Time period—month ending  Name  Total over 13 week out-patient waiters not seen after 1( st)  out-patient appointment for mental health specialties  Not seen 13<17 weeks  Not seen 17<21 weeks  Not seen 21+ weeks  Not seen 21<26 weeks  Not seen 26+ weeks 
			 March 2003 Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust 8 5 3 0 0 0 
			 March 2003 North East London Mental Health NHS Trust 15 10 5 0 0 0 
			 March 2003 West London Mental Health NHS Trust 9 5 4 0 0 0 
			 March 2003 Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust 3 2 1 0 0 0 
			 March 2003 South West London and St. George's NHS Trust 10 4 5 1 1 0 
			 March 2003 Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust 32 17 15 0 0 0 
			 March 2003 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2 2 0 0 0 0 
			 March 2003 Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust 4 4 0 0 0 0 
			 March 2003 South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust 81 33 47 1 0 1 
			 March 2003 East London and The City Mental Health NHS Trust 18 13 5 0 0 0 
			 March 2003 Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust 5 5 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Not yet seen at the end of the timebands not seen 
			  Time period—month ending  Name  Total over 13 week out-patient waiters not seen after 1( st)  out-patient appointment for mental health specialties  Not seen 13<17 weeks  Not seen 17<21 weeks  Not seen 21 +weeks  Not seen 21<26weeks  Not seen 26+weeks 
			 March 2004 North East London Mental Health NHS Trust 1 1 0 0 0 0 
			 March 2004 West London Mental Health NHS Trust 9 9 0 0 0 0 
			 March 2004 Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust 2 2 0 0 0 0 
			 March 2004 Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust 43 43 0 0 0 0 
			 March 2004 South West London and St. George's NHS Trust 1 1 0 0 0 0 
			 March 2004 East London and The City Mental Health NHS Trust 9 9 0 0 0 0 
			 March 2004 Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust 1 1 0 0 0 0 
			  Note: Previous to June 2004, the out-patients not seen were only collected for patients not seen who were waiting 13 weeks and above. Therefore no average could be calculated.  Source: QM08NS 
		
	
	
		
			  Out-patient waiting list statistics for mental health specialties for London provider trusts—patients still waiting at the end of the month 
			  Time period—month ending  Name  Median waiting time of patients still waiting for a 1( st)  out-patient appointment for mental health specialties (in weeks) 
			 March 2005 Bromley PCT n/a 
			 March 2005 Hillingdon PCT n/a 
			 March 2005 Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust n/a 
			 March 2005 North East London Mental Health NHS Trust 5.6 
			 March 2005 West London Mental Health NHS Trust 4.7 
			 March 2005 Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust 3.7 
			 March 2005 Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust n/a 
			 March 2005 Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust 5.9 
			 March 2005 South West London and St. George's NHS Trust 4.9 
			 March 2005 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust n/a 
			 March 2005 Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust 3.8 
			 March 2005 East London and The City Mental Health NHS Trust 4.7 
			 March 2005 Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust 7.9 
			
			 March 2006 Bromley PCT n/a 
			 March 2006 Barnet PCT n/a 
			 March 2006 Hillingdon PCT n/a 
			 March 2006 Brent PCT n/a 
			 March 2006 West London Mental Health NHS Trust 4.4 
			 March 2006 Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust 3.4 
			 March 2006 Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust n/a 
			 March 2006 Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust 4.0 
			 March 2006 South West London and St. George's NHS Trust 3.4 
			 March 2006 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust n/a 
			 March 2006 Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust 3.3 
			 March 2006 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 3.8 
			 March 2006 East London and The City Mental Health NHS Trust 4.2 
			 March 2006 Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust n/a 
			
			 March 2007 Bromley PCT n/a 
			 March 2007 Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust n/a 
			 March 2007 West London Mental Health NHS Trust 3.1 
			 March 2007 Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust 3.3 
			 March 2007 Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust n/a 
			 March 2007 Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust 6.6 
			 March 2007 South West London and St. George's NHS Trust 3.6 
			 March 2007 University College London NHS Foundation Trust n/a 
			 March 2007 Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust 3.9 
			 March 2007 East London and The City Mental Health NHS Trust 4.3 
			 March 2007 Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust n/a 
			
			 September 2007 Bromley PCT n/a 
			 September 2007 Croydon PCT n/a 
			 September 2007 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust n/a 
			 September 2007 West London Mental Health NHS Trust 2.9 
			 September 2007 Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust n/a 
			 September 2007 South West London and St. George's NHS Trust 2.5 
			 September 2007 University College London NHS Foundation Trust n/a 
			 September 2007 Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust 2.9 
			 September 2007 East London and The City Mental Health NHS Trust 6.9 
			 September 2007 Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust n/a 
			 n/a = not applicable.  Notes: 1. Median waiting times are calculated from aggregate data, rather than patient level data, and therefore are only estimates of the position on average waits. In particular, specialties with low numbers waiting are prone to fluctuations in the median. This should be taken into account when interpreting the data. 2. Medians are provided for out-patients not seen with total of less than 50 because this population is too small for a statistically meaningful median to be calculated so a n/a shown in that case.  Source: QM08NS

Mental Health Services: Standards

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government has taken to improve the quality of services for mental health patients since 1997.

Ivan Lewis: Mental health was identified as a key clinical priority in "Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation", in 1998, which set out a target to reduce suicides by one fifth by 2010. This target is included in the Department's public service agreement.
	We published the first ever National Service Framework (NSF) in England for adult mental health services in 1999. It laid down models of treatment and care which people would be entitled to expect in every part of the country and was a deliberate move to raise the profile of mental health. Since then, mental health services have been working to implement a radical programme of modernisation to improve access to effective treatment and care, raise standards and provide quicker and more convenient services.
	The "NHS Plan" 2000, aimed to strengthen community care and in doing so, take pressure off acute beds. It provided an extra annual investment of over £300 million by 2003-04 to fast forward the NSF.
	From 2001-02 to 2006-07, real terms investment in adult mental health services increased by 31 per cent. (or £1.2 billion)—that is £1.9 billion in cash terms. The national health service spent over £5.1 billion on adult mental health services in 2006-07 compared to £3.9 billion in 2001-02.
	Key targets were set for service delivery on early intervention, crisis resolution and assertive outreach services and, due to the NSF and increased funding, we now have over 700 new mental health teams working in the community.
	During 2006-07, crisis and home treatment teams provided 95,000 episodes of home treatment against 84,000 in 2005-06 for people who would otherwise have been admitted to hospital.
	The Government have allocated an extra £130 million in 2006-07 to provide more appropriate 'places of safety' for people detained under the Mental Health Act by the police.
	We now have 55 per cent. more consultant psychiatrists, almost 70 per cent. more clinical psychologists and at least 20 per cent. more mental health nurses than we had in 1997.
	Because of the NSF and increased funding, we now have over 700 new mental health teams working in the community (that includes assertive outreach, early intervention, crisis resolution teams).
	A five-year action plan is in place to address inequalities in the experience Black and minority ethnic people have in accessing services.
	We are also committed to expanding access to psychological therapies as a positive alternative to medication. By 2010-11, the NHS will spend £170 million per year on psychological therapies, with £33 million in 2008-09, £103 million in 2009-10 and £173 million in 2010-11. This investment will mean:
	900,000 more people will be treated for depression and anxiety, many of whom will be completely cured;
	450,000 achieving measurable recovery;
	all GP practices will have access to psychological therapies as the programme rolls out; and
	the average waiting time for psychological treatments will reduce from the current 18 months to a few weeks.

NHS: Procurement

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what expected NHS expenditure on medical supplies and equipment is for 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The information is not available centrally in the exact format requested. Expenditure on clinical supplies and services is collected on an historical basis from strategic health authorities (SHAs), primary care trusts (PCTs) and national health service trusts. The latest year for which information is available is 2006-07 when the total expenditure on clinical supplies and services was £5,043,371,000. This figure contains the purchase of low value medical and surgical equipment but not items over £5,000. Information on the expenditure on medical equipment costing more than £5,000 is not available. Information for 2007-08 will be available next autumn.
	The information is from the annual financial returns of SHAS, PCTs and NHS trusts. No information is available for NHS foundation trusts.

Psychiatry: Greater London

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many psychiatrists were employed by each London mental health trust in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested can be found in the following table.
	In-patient psychiatric activity has fallen over time as we have established more than 700 new mental health teams providing community based care as an alternative to acute in-patient care.
	
		
			  Hospital and Community Health Services: medical and dental staff working within the psychiatry group of specialties in London strategic health authority (SHA) area, showing mental heath trusts: As at 30 September each year 
			  Numbers (headcount) and full-time equivalent 
			2002  2003  2004 
			 Of which   Of which   Of which 
			All staff( 1)  Consultant  All staff( 1)  Consultant  All staff( 1)  Consultant 
			 London SHA Area  1,870 736 1,970 800 2,203 896 
			  of which
			 Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust RRP 166 60 180 64 214 80 
			 Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust TAF 103 30 138 50 146 46 
			 Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust RV3 204 76 217 82 232 96 
			 East London and the City Mental Health NHS Trust RWK 155 61 174 70 214 77 
			 North East London Mental Health NHS Trust RAT 96 49 71 34 122 50 
			 Oxleas NHS Trust RPG 102 39 94 43 105 43 
			 South London and Maudsley NHS Trust RV5 464 193 502 208 510 226 
			 South West London and St. George's Mental Health NHS Trust RQY 249 94 261 102 273 108 
			 West London Mental Health NHS Trust RKL 201 78 208 85 236 96 
		
	
	
		
			2005  2006 
			 Of which   Of which 
			All staff( 1)  Consultant  All staff( 1)  Consultant 
			 London SHA Area  2,306 931 2,388 947 
			  of which  
			 Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust RRP 241 87 240 98 
			 Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust TAF 156 50 156 57 
			 Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust RV3 257 100 293 110 
			 East London and the City Mental Health NHS Trust RWK 176 83 233 90 
			 North East London Mental Health NHS Trust RAT 140 51 140 48 
			 Oxleas NHS Trust RPG 102 47 129 56 
			 South London and Maudsley NHS Trust RV5 542 227 533 213 
			 South West London and St. George's Mental Health NHS Trust RQY 274 105 262 106 
			 West London Mental Health NHS Trust RKL 242 96 252 104 
			 (1) All staff denotes qualified medical staff whom work in the psychiatry group of specialties within the specified organisations.  Source:  The Information Centre for health and social care Medical and Dental Workforce Census.

Vaccination: Children

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms are used by GPs to identify children who are due for immunisation and who have not received it.

Ben Bradshaw: There is a requirement under the new General Medical Services contract and the Primary Medical Services Directed Enhanced Services Directions 2006, that the general practitioner:
	develops and maintains a register (its "Childhood Immunisation Scheme Register", which may comprise electronically tagged entries in a wider computer database) of all the children for whom the contractor has a contractual duty to provide childhood immunisation and pre-school booster services (who may already have been immunised, by the contractor or otherwise, or to whom the contractor has offered or needs to offer immunisations).

Vaccination: Children

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what responsibility general practitioners have to inform parents and guardians that children are due for vaccination.

Ben Bradshaw: There is a requirement under the new General Medical Services Personal Medical Services contract and the Personal Medical Services Directed Enhanced Services Directions 2006, that the general practitioner:
	(i) develops a strategy for liaising with and informing parents or guardians of children on its Childhood Immunisation Scheme Register about its immunisation programme with the aim of improving uptake; and
	(ii) provides information on request to those parents or guardians about immunisation.

Chelmsford Crown Court: Facilities

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what facilities are available at Chelmsford Crown court for  (a) defendants,  (b) families of defendants and  (c) victims of crime; what such facilities were available in (i) 1996, (ii) 1998, (iii) 2001, (iv) 2005 and (v) 2006; what plans he has to improve facilities; what recent representations he has received on this issue; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: Facilities available ait Chelmsford Crown court are as follows:
	 (a) Since March 2006, there has been a dedicated suite available for defendants on bail.
	 (b) Rooms are not normally provided for families of defendants. However, where there are special circumstances, a lockable interview room is available and can be allocated for use by the families of defendants.
	 (c) Since 1996, there have been three rooms available for victims of crime; the normal witness assembly room plus two other dedicated rooms for vulnerable witnesses or families of murder victims.
	Separately, during 2007, there have been representations on proposed new magistrates court buildings in Chelmsford both from a local Councillor and an MP.
	There are currently no plans to improve facilities at the Crown court.

Constituencies

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the timetable is for  (a) interim reviews of parliamentary boundaries in particular parts of England and Wales and  (b) the ratification of parliamentary boundaries for Northern Ireland constituencies.

Bridget Prentice: The decision to hold interim reviews of parliamentary constituencies in England and Wales, and the timing of such reviews, rests with the Boundary Commissions for England and Wales respectively, which are independent of Government. The Boundary Commissions for England and Wales will give notice of any interim reviews that they intend to carry out.
	The Boundary Commission for England is currently conducting an interim review of certain constituencies in Northamptonshire and Somerset. Local inquiries have recently been held in relation to the constituencies that are the subject of the review, and the Assistant Commissioners who conducted the inquiries will now prepare their reports for consideration by the Boundary Commission. I understand that the Boundary Commission has decided to suspend the interim review it had previously announced in Northumberland and Wiltshire.
	The Boundary Commission for Wales is currently carrying out an interim review of the parliamentary constituencies of Neath and Brecon and Radnorshire and I understand that it is expected to be completed shortly.
	The Boundary Commissions, once they have completed an interim review, will submit a report of their recommendations to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (Mr. Straw), who will lay the report before Parliament together with a draft Order to give effect to the new boundaries, having allowed a reasonable period for consideration of the report, and, in particular, any representations that may be made to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor in respect of specific recommendations. If agreed by Parliament, the report's recommendations will come into force at the next general election.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Woodward), proposes to lay the recent report of the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland before Parliament at the earliest opportunity with a draft of an Order in Council giving effect without modifications to the recommendations contained in the report. Again, if agreed by Parliament, the report's recommendations will come into force at the next general election.

Crown Courts: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to establish a crown court in Milton Keynes.

Maria Eagle: There are currently no plans to establish a crown court in Milton Keynes. However, in June 2007, the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, announced a major investment in building six new courts, of which a Crown court at Aylesbury was one.

Data Protection

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the terms of reference are of the review into the way that personal information is shared between and protected by the public and private sector.

Michael Wills: The terms of reference for the independent data sharing review being led by Richard Thomas and Dr. Mark Walport are:
	The review will consider whether there should be any changes to the way the Data Protection Act 1998 operates in the UK and the options for implementing any such changes. It will include recommendations on the powers and sanctions available to the regulator and courts in the legislation governing data sharing and data protection. It will also make recommendations on how data sharing policy should be developed in a way that ensures proper transparency, scrutiny and accountability. To inform its recommendations, the review panel will consult with:
	(a) the devolved administrations
	(b) the European Commission
	(c) the academic and legal community and the media
	(d) representatives of the IT community and the private sector
	(e) a representative sample of Government departments and agencies with an interest in data sharing and privacy
	(f) other parties identified by the review team
	The recommendations will seek to take account of technological advances and strike a balance that ensures appropriate privacy and other safeguards for individuals and society, while enabling sharing information to protect the public, increasing transparency, enhancing public service delivery as well as the need to minimise the burden on business.

Departmental Data Protection

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what reviews have been undertaken of his Department's rules on data protection in the last two years; if he will place in the Library a copy of the report of the last review of his Department's compliance with data protection laws; and if  (a) his Department and  (b) his Department's agencies will undertake a review of their compliance with data protection laws.

Michael Wills: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 November 2007,  Official Report, column 1179. The review by the Cabinet Secretary and security experts is looking at procedures within departments and agencies for the storage and use of data. A statement on departments' procedures will be made on completion of the review. An interim progress report on the review was published on 17 December by the Cabinet Office through a written ministerial statement, column 98WS.
	My Department is reviewing the way it handles data alongside the work being carried out by the Cabinet Secretary which will be published in due course.

Departmental Data Protection

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions in  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies confidential data have been downloaded on to compact discs (i) without and (ii) with encryption in the last 12 month period for which figures are available; how many of those discs have been posted without using recorded or registered delivery; what procedures his Department has in place for the (A) transport, (B) exchange and (C) delivery of confidential or sensitive data; what records are kept of information held by his Department being sent outside the Department; what changes have been made to his Department's rules and procedures on data protection in the last two years; on how many occasions his Department's procedures and rules on data protection have been breached in the last five years; what those breaches were; what procedures his Department has in place on downloading confidential data on to computer discs before its transfer; what technical protections there are in his Department's computer systems to prevent access to information held on those systems which is not in accordance with departmental procedures; and if he will place in the Library a copy of each of his Department's rules and procedures on the protection of confidential data on individuals, businesses and other organisations.

Michael Wills: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 November 2007,  Official Report, column 1179. The review by the Cabinet Secretary and security experts is looking at procedures within departments and agencies for the storage and use of data. A statement on departments' procedures will be made on completion of the review. An interim progress report on the review was published on 17 December by the Cabinet Office through a written ministerial statement, column 98WS.
	No information is available on the number of times that confidential data has been downloaded onto compact discs. Downloading, transport, exchange and delivery of sensitive data, and the recording of these actions, is governed by agreed procedures in line with HM Government standards. My Department's main information systems have been designed to operate at a level of security that covers the requirements for handling personal information.
	There is no standard set of rules and procedures required for compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998. What is appropriate will depend on the circumstances and the nature of the personal data itself. Accordingly, data protection measures are specific to location, type and sensitivity of the data in question. There is no overarching set of rules and the department follows HM Government procedures for assessing risks and establishing controls. Therefore the information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The definition of 'breach' in data protection rules and procedures can be broad. Depending on their nature, breaches by Government Departments of the Data Protection Act can be dealt with by the information commissioner, the courts or by departments at an informal local level. The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Data Protection

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many employees of each grade in his Department  (a) have access to confidential or sensitive data and  (b) are authorised to download such data to disk; how many of his Department's employees have undergone data protection training in the last 12 months; what the average length of time is that each employee of (i) his Department and (ii) his Department's agencies has spent on data protection training; how many investigations of employees of his Department for improperly accessing confidential information have taken place in the last 12 months; how many such investigations resulted in cases of disciplinary action; and what the circumstances of each of those cases were.

Michael Wills: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 November 2007,  Official Report, column 1179. The review by the Cabinet Secretary and security experts is looking at procedures within departments and agencies for the storage and use of data. A statement on departments' procedures will be made on completion of the review. An interim progress report on the review was published on 17 December by the Cabinet Office through a written ministerial statement, column 98WS.
	Like all Government Departments, mine provides training to members of staff. It is included in induction for new staff and ad hoc training events where a specific need exists. The information requested on data protection training at (i) and (ii), and for parts  (a) and  (b) of this question is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	There are no recorded instances of employees in my Department being investigated for improperly accessing confidential information in the last 12 months.

Departmental Data Protection

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what procedures are in place in his Department to ensure that personal information relating to members of the public is  (a) stored and  (b) transported securely.

Michael Wills: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 November 2007,  Official Report, column 1179. The review by the Cabinet Secretary and security experts is looking at procedures within Departments and agencies for the storage and use of data. A statement on Departments' procedures will be made on completion of the review. An interim progress report on the review was published by the Cabinet Office through a written ministerial statement on 17 December 2007,  Official Report, column 98WS.
	Our new DISC contract, which covers the main HQ, court and tribunal systems, covers security requirements, referring to HMG standards and ISO 17799 (and updates to both) and includes operating procedures covering the carriage of bulky protectively marked assets.
	Paper records, when no longer current, are stored in a secure archive. No later than 30 years, they are reviewed and either transferred under controlled transport arrangements to the National Archive or destroyed.

Departmental Data Protection

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether his Department's information technology and data management systems are BS7799 compliant.

Michael Wills: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 November 2007,  Official Report, column 1179. The review by the Cabinet Secretary and security experts is looking at procedures within Departments and agencies for the storage and use of data. A statement on Departments' procedures will be made on completion of the review. An interim progress report on the review was published by the Cabinet Office through a written ministerial statement on 17 December 2007,  Official Report, column 98WS.
	All Government Departments are required to ensure that their information technology and data management systems meet the government standard (known as HMG Infosec Standard 2) which is aligned to BS7799. All MoJ systems comply with the government standard, and are therefore BS7799 compliant.

Departmental Data Protection

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions the Information Commissioner was contacted by his Department to report breaches of data protection security in each of the last five years.

Michael Wills: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 November 2007,  Official Report, column 1179. The review by the Cabinet Secretary and security experts is looking at procedures within Departments and agencies for the storage and use of data. A statement on Departments' procedures will be made on completion of the review. An interim progress report on the review was published by the Cabinet Office through a written ministerial statement on 17 December 2007,  Official Report, column 98WS.
	My Department does not maintain a central record of breaches of data protection security reported to the Information Commissioner. However, in the last year, I can say that my Department has reported three potential breaches to his office.
	The Information Commissioner's Office does not keep records of referrals referenced by Department.
	The information requested about the last five years is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Data Protection

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many breaches of data protection security there were in  (a) his Department and  (b) his Department's Agencies in each of the last five years; and if he will provide details of each breach.

Michael Wills: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 November 2007,  Official Report, column 1179. The review by the Cabinet Secretary and security experts is looking at procedures within Departments and agencies for the storage and use of data. A statement on Departments' procedures will be made on completion of the review. An interim progress report on the review was published by the Cabinet Office through a written ministerial statement on 17 December 2007,  Official Report, column 98WS.
	Depending on their nature, breaches by my Department of the Data Protection Act 1998 can be dealt with by the Information Commissioner, the courts or by my Department at an informal local level. The information requested about the last five years is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	However, in the last year, I can say that my Department has reported three potential breaches to the Information Commissioner's Office.

Departmental Data Protection

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he proposes to review how his Department transports data; and whether his Department uses TNT to transport data.

Michael Wills: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 November 2007,  Official Report, column 1179. The review by the Cabinet Secretary and security experts is looking at procedures within Departments and agencies for the storage and use of data. A statement on Departments' procedures will be made on completion of the review. An interim progress report on the review was published by the Cabinet Office through a written ministerial statement on 17 December 2007,  Official Report, column 98WS.
	The review will include data transport arrangements.
	We use TNT as the provider of an archive service for paper records. This is an MoD contract that provides a secure storage facility and is used by MoJ Headquarters, the courts, some tribunals and the prison service. No later than 30 years, records are reviewed and either transferred under controlled arrangements to the National Archive or destroyed.
	Business units select a delivery firm to take records to the Archive and there is a tight security control to ensure all records are accounted for. TNT are only involved in transport if business units have requested old records back or when they are being returned to our Records Management Service for review.

Departmental Parliamentary Questions

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff work in his Department's parliamentary branch; and what proportion of their time is spent on dealing with  (a) Parliamentary Questions and  (b) correspondence from hon. Members and Peers.

Maria Eagle: Within the Ministry of Justice there are eight members of staff in the parliamentary branch of which four work solely on parliamentary questions. The correspondence from hon. Members and peers is dealt with by the Ministerial Correspondence Unit of which five work solely on their correspondence.

Departmental Postal Services

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many items of post sent by his Department and its predecessor were reported missing by the intended recipient in each year since 1997.

Michael Wills: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 November 2007,  Official Report, column 1179. The review by the Cabinet Secretary and security experts is looking at procedures within departments and agencies for the storage and use of data. A statement on departments' procedures will be made on completion of the review. An interim progress report on the review was published on 17 December by the Cabinet Office through a written ministerial statement, column 98WS.
	The Ministry of Justice and its predecessor have no record of any items of post having been reported missing since 1997.

Departmental Telephone Services

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which telephone contact centres are the responsibility of his Department; what mechanisms are in place to monitor their effectiveness; and how many people have been employed in each of those centres in each year since they were established.

Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice funds the following helpline and telephone contact centres, listed in the table, with staffing figures for the last two years:
	
		
			   Last year (full-time equivalent)  This year (full-time equivalent) 
			 Community Legal Advice (CLA) 100.5 179.4 
			 National Debtline 62 88 
			 Duty Solicitor Call Centre (DSCC) (headcount) 79 162 
			 Criminal Defence Service Direct (CDS) (headcount) 40 46 
			 National Mediation Helpline 5 5 
			 Prisoners Abroad 4 4 
			 NACRO Resettlement Helpline (National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders') 5 5 
			 Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) 3.95 4.25 
			 The National Archives n/a 4.6 
			 Sentence Calculation 2 2 
			 Home Detention and Curfew and Release on Temporary Licence 2.25 2.25 
			 Family Mediation Helpline 2 2 
			 Victims Helpline 0.2 0.2 
			 The Information Commissioners Office Helplines (ICO)(1) (2)22 (2)22 
			 n/a - not available at this time. (1 )The Ministry of Justice provides a grant in aid for the ICO's Freedom of Information (FOI) responsibilities. The ICO maintains two helplines (which cover their data protection and FOI responsibilities), of which they are responsible for monitoring the performance and effectiveness. Performance figures are passed on to the Ministry of Justice for information. It was not possible to accurately separate staff figures specifically for the helplines. (2 )approx.  Note:  Information that is not available at this time will be provided in due course. 
		
	
	In addition to these, the Department will be funding the Prisoners' Families Helpline for 2008-09 and also plans to launch the Mubarak Trust Helpline as a pilot scheme in Feltham next year.
	There are a variety of mechanisms in place across the department with which Ministers monitor the telephone contact centres effectiveness. For example, CLA is operated by the Legal Services Commission which is established by the Access to Justice Act 1999. Others are operated by their policy teams under service level agreements.
	We are currently surveying high level information on helplines funded by all Government Departments (as a distinct subset of contact centres), for the purpose of exploring the scope for greater co-ordination. We intend to publish aggregate information on the data collated and analysed in spring 2008.

Departmental Telephone Services

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what information his Department collects and monitors in relation to the telephone contact centres for which his Department is responsible.

Maria Eagle: At present, my Department collects a wide variety of information on the telephone contact centres it funds for the purpose of monitoring performance. Further information on the questions requested is given in answer to another question from the hon. Member.
	The Ministry of Justice has recently launched an online survey for all publicly funded helplines across Government. This collects high level information such as annual cost, funding, staff numbers and pay, opening hours and co-ordination with other helplines. All helplines funded by the Department have completed the survey.
	The Contact Council is also collecting more detailed information from all contact centres, measuring their performance and effectiveness against 26 set indicators.
	These initiatives will result in increased standardisation in the information collected to monitor performance of telephone contact centres.

Departmental Telephone Services

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much each telephone contact centre for which his Department is responsible has  (a) cost and  (b) generated in income in each financial year since their establishment.

Maria Eagle: The following table shows the cost of each helpline and telephone contact centre that the Ministry of Justice funds for the latest available years in each case:
	
		
			  £ 
			   2005-06  2006-07 
			 Community Legal Advice (CLA) 5,439,163 9,562,564 
			 National Debtline 3,539,432 3,972,448 
			 Duty Solicitor Call Centre (DSCC) 2,818,000 3,096,136 
			 Criminal Defence Service Direct (CDS) 534,000 1,369,943 
			 National Mediation Helpline 75,998 43,147 
			 Prisoners Abroad 1,009,000 1,009,000 
			 NACRO Resettlement Helpline (National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders') 277,842 284,788 
			 Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority 180,000 188,000 
			 The National Archives Not available at this time. 140,388 (approx based on one quarter) 
			 Sentence Calculation (1)90,100 (1)90,100 
			 Home Detention and Curfew and Release on Temporary Licence (1)76,375 (1)76,375 
			 Family Mediation Helpline Not available at this time. 57,428 
			 Victims Helpline (1)3,325 (1)3,325 
			 The Information Commissioners Office Helplines (2)No direct information available (2)No direct information available 
			 (1) These costs relate to in-house telephone helplines and are therefore an estimate of staff costs. (2 )The Ministry of Justice provides a grant in aid for the ICO's Freedom of Information (FOI) responsibilities. The ICO maintains two helplines which cover the ICO's data protection and FOI responsibilities. It was not possible to separate cost figures specifically for the helplines. 
		
	
	The National Debtline and NACRO are the only telephone contact centres that have a generated income. The following table shows these figures:
	
		
			  £ 
			   2005-06  2006-07 
			 National Debtline 323,548 592,432 
			 NACRO Resettlement Helpline (National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders') 23,727 5,724

Housing: Carbon Emissions

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what records the Land Registry keeps of the number and location of zero carbon homes.

Michael Wills: Her Majesty's Land Registry does not hold any records relating to zero carbon rating homes. The strategy to make all new homes zero carbon by 2016 comes under the jurisdiction of the Department of Communities and Local Government. Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs may collate statistics relating to homes qualifying for zero carbon tax relief through the monitoring of stamp duty land tax, following the introduction of the Stamp Duty Land Tax (Zero-Carbon Homes Relief) Regulations on 7 December 2007.

Immigration

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much funding has been allocated to Lord Goldsmith's citizenship review.

Michael Wills: The allocated funding for Lord Goldsmith's Citizenship Review is £200,000 excluding staff costs. Lord Goldsmith is not receiving any remuneration for undertaking this review.

Members' Correspondence

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many letters his Department and its predecessors received from hon. Members and Peers in each session of Parliament since 1997.

Bridget Prentice: The information, which is also available in the Library of the House, is listed as follows.
	
		
			  Calendar year  Number of letters received from MPs/Peers 
			 1997 2,458 
			 1998 2,672 
			 1999 2,038 
			 2000 1,844 
			 2001 1,737 
			 2002 2,577 
			 2003 2,746 
			 2004 3,516 
			 2005 3,179 
			 2006 3,524 
		
	
	The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of departments in replying to Members and Peers' correspondence. Information relating to 2007 will be published as soon as it has been collated.

New Hall Young Offenders Institution: Injuries

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what injuries were incurred by girls held in New Hall Young Offenders Institution during control and restraint in each month in  (a) 2006 and  (b) 2007.

Maria Eagle: There were two control and restraint incidents at New Hall that sustained injuries, as follows:
	January 2006—sore right wrist; and
	February 2007—mark on left hand side of face.

Personal Records: Data Protection

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department has taken to protect the personal data on members of the public which it holds.

Michael Wills: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 November 2007,  Official Report, column 1179. The review by the Cabinet Secretary and security experts is looking at procedures within departments and agencies for the storage and use of data. A statement on departments' procedures will be made on completion of the review. An interim progress report on the review was published on 17 December by the Cabinet Office through a written ministerial statement, column 98WS.
	The Ministry of Justice has procedures and guidance covering security, information security and data protection designed to identify and control the risk of the unauthorised release of personal data taking place. They include:
	Ensuring our sites are physically secure and protected from unauthorised access;
	Ensuring our employees are reliable through checks on background;
	Providing guidance to staff1 on general security with separate guidance on IT security and data protection issues;
	Procedures for assessing IT systems;
	We also have systems for monitoring and checking compliance.
	These policies and procedures extend to our contracted IT suppliers.

Political Parties: Finance

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what meetings he has held on party funding with Mr. Peter Watts in the last 12 months.

Jack Straw: In my capacity as Secretary of State for Justice I have not held any meetings in the last 12 months with Mr. Peter Watt on party funding.
	I have furthermore met with Mr. Peter Watt several times in my capacity as one of my party's representatives at the cross party talks.

Political Parties: Finance

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what meetings and discussions he has had with Sir Hayden Phillips and his representatives on electoral law on donations to political parties.

Jack Straw: I have met with Sir Hayden Phillips several times in my capacity as one of my party's representatives at the cross party talks led by Sir Hayden and spoken to him on the telephone from time to time though the right hon. Gentleman will appreciate that as Sir Hayden's review was established by Her Majesty's Government, it is not possible to wholly separate it's role from that of the Secretary of State. I have not however had any meetings with Sir Hayden in either capacity since June 2007 other than at the cross party talks.

Prison Service: Corruption

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many investigations by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman have been assisted by the lead investigator for the Tasker inquiry; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: The lead investigator for the Tasker inquiry has assisted in a total of 13 investigations by the prison and probation ombudsman which were carried out during 2005 and 2006.

Prison Service: Sick Leave

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer of 16 May 2007,  Official Report, column 787W, on prison service: sick leave, how many staff are currently off work sick in HM Prison Service with stress; how many staff were off work sick with stress for a period of  (a) less than one week,  (b) between one and two weeks,  (c) between two weeks and a month,  (d) between one and two months,  (e) between two and three months,  (f) between three and four months,  (g) between four and five months,  (h) between five and six months and  (i) more than six months in the last two years; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: The information requested is as follows:
	 Public Sector Prison Service
	At the latest date that figures are available (30 November 2007) there were 465 staff absent from the public sector Prison Service for reasons classified as 'Mental and Behavioural Disorders' - predominately stress related. Information on the number of cases of 'Mental and Behavioural' absences by length of absence over the last two complete years is shown in the following table. The information refers to all stress related absences, whether they were work-related or not. The average total workforce during this period was 48,817 and therefore the current number absent due to 'Mental and Behavioural Disorders' is less than 1 per cent. of total workforce.
	
		
			  Mental and behavioural absences in the public sector prison service by length: April 2005 to March 2007 
			  Length of absence  Cases 
			 < 1 week 1,243 
			 1 to 2 weeks 732 
			 2 weeks to 1 month 1,532 
			 1 to 2 months 1,238 
			 2 to 3 months 707 
			 3 to 4 months 433 
			 4 to 5 months 320 
			 5 to 6 months 243 
			 More than 6 months 551 
		
	
	 Contracted Prisons
	HMP and YOI Pare have reported that no staff are currently absent due to stress. No other contracted establishments have reported information on the number of current absentees.
	Information from the contracted estate is contained in the following table.
	
		
			  Absences due to stress at contracted prisons over the past two years 
			  Length of Absence  Cases( 1) 
			 < 1 week 9 
			 1 to 2 weeks 8 
			 2 weeks to 1 month 15 
			 1 to 2 months 11 
			 2 to 3 months 10 
			 3 to 4 months 0 
			 4 to 5 months 0 
			 5 to 6 months 1 
			 More than 6 months 8 
			 (1) Information has been provided for four contracted prisons; Parc, Altcourse, Rye Hill and Wolds. No information has been supplied for; Ashfield, Bronzefield, Dovegate, Doncaster, Forest Bank, Lowdham Grange and Peterborough.

Prisoners

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of all released prisoners were reconvicted for further offences committed in the first 18 days after release in the last year for which data is available.

David Hanson: Reoffending rates for 18 days following release from prison are not routinely calculated. Reoffending rates have historically been calculated over a two year period and the most recent figures for adults released from prison in England and Wales are shown in the table.
	Two year reoffending rates of adults released from prison, based on the first quarter of each year
	
		
			   Reoffending rate (percentage) 
			 2000 64.8 
			 2002 67.4 
			 2003 65.8 
			 2004 64.7 
		
	
	Reoffending rates by month of re-offence are illustrated in figure 3 of "Re-offending of Adults: results from the 2004 cohort" publication. This information is currently not available for prison discharges only. This publication be can be found online at
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/hosb0607.pdf

Prisoners Transfers

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 5 December 2007,  Official Report, columns 1259-60W, for what offences the 11 prisoners transferred to prisons in England and Wales from prisons in Northern Ireland since 2000 were serving sentences; and what the grounds for transfer were.

David Hanson: The transfer of prisoners between UK jurisdictions is governed by schedule 1 to the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997. Each application is assessed on its individual merits, taking into consideration:
	(i) the purpose for which the transfer is requested;
	(ii) whether the prisoner was ordinarily resident in the jurisdiction to which transfer is sought prior to the imposition of the current sentence; or whether members of the prisoner's close family are resident in that jurisdiction and there are reasonable grounds for believing that the prisoner will receive regular visits from them; or whether the prisoner has demonstrated through preparations that he has made for his life following release from prison that he intends to reside in the receiving jurisdiction upon release and he is in the later stages of his sentence;
	(iii) whether there are grounds for believing that the prisoner may disrupt or attempt to disrupt any prison establishment, or pose an unacceptable risk to security; and
	(iv) any compelling or compassionate circumstances.
	The application of each prisoner transferred from Northern Ireland since 2000 met one of the conditions for transfer set out.
	Information on the offences committed by each of the prisoner is not centrally held. I will write to the hon. Member once the information is available.

Prisoners: Mentoring

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans the Government have to expand the role of mentoring in helping prisoners develop employable skills.

David Hanson: In December 2006, the Government set out in the document 'Reducing Re-offending through Skills and Employment: Next Steps' their plans for improving the skills and employment outcomes for all offenders in custody and in the community. A key element of this plan involves engaging employers to work with offenders and ex-offenders. Many employers offer training programmes which not only teach vocational skills but also involve mentoring in order to develop softer skills and improve employability. These softer skills include job searching, CV preparation, interview techniques and customer service.
	Mentoring is also a vital service offered by voluntary and community sector organisations. There are several projects running across the country where these organisations work in partnership with Probation Boards, the Prison Service and the regional Government offices to remove barriers to employment for offenders, including via mentoring on release from custody.
	The Government's aim is to facilitate the sharing of good practice and lessons learnt from all the above examples of mentoring to encourage further and wider use of the methods which are proven to work best in improving skills and employability of offenders.

Prisoners: Police Custody

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were held in police cells in each police force area in each of the last five years; and at what estimated cost in each year.  [Official Report, 20 February 2008, Vol. 472, c. 8MC.]

David Hanson: Prisoners are either held in police cells under Operation Safeguard or as ad-hoc "lockouts".
	Operation Safeguard was used in 2006 and 2007. Table 1 shows the number of occasions on which prisoners have been held in police cells under Operation Safeguard in each police force area in England and Wales in 2006 and 2007. (One occasion is defined as one prisoner night spent in a police cell.)
	
		
			  Table 1: The number of occasions on which prisoners were held in police cells under Operation Safeguard 
			  Police force area  2006  2007 
			 Avon and Somerset 0 132 
			 Bedfordshire 0 389 
			 Cambridgeshire 212 1,157 
			 Cheshire 103 4,038 
			 Cleveland 0 4 
			 Cumbria 0 318 
			 Derbyshire 113 439 
			 Devon and Cornwall 38 1,803 
			 Dorset 71 355 
			 Durham 42 1,090 
			 Dyfed Powys 1 615 
			 Essex 1,009 3,963 
			 Gloucestershire 0 17 
			 Greater Manchester 15 2,800 
			 Gwent 0 839 
			 Hampshire 65 1,384 
			 Hertfordshire 40 1,170 
			 Humberside 0 84 
			 Kent 335 3,292 
			 Lancashire 0 1,636 
			 Leicestershire 0 2,689 
			 Lincolnshire 168 1,446 
			 Merseyside 196 165 
			 Metropolitan 333 9,799 
			 Norfolk 0 20 
			 North Wales 14 1,619 
			 North Yorkshire 0 39 
			 Northamptonshire 219 1,187 
			 Northumbria 0 1,113 
			 Nottinghamshire 0 184 
			 South Wales 81 1,254 
			 South Yorkshire 0 935 
			 Staffordshire 0 2 
			 Suffolk 83 1,085 
			 Surrey 0 107 
			 Sussex 338 258 
			 Thames Valley 433 2,627 
			 Warwickshire 93 1,086 
			 West Mercia 0 55 
			 West Midlands 570 6,237 
			 West Yorkshire 45 3,432 
			 Wiltshire 0 89 
		
	
	The police forces involved in Operation Safeguard charge NOMS for the cost of making cells available to accommodate prisoners. As invoices are received in arrears and may be subject to variable costs dependent upon individual prisoner and other circumstances, cost per year by force cannot be accurately calculated. However, the average estimated cost of holding a prisoner in a police cell under Operation Safeguard is currently in the region of £385 per night.
	Table 2 shows the total numbers of prisoners accommodated overnight in police cells as ad-hoc lockouts.
	Ad-hoc lockout data is not available for individual police forces and is approximate due to diverse recording methods.
	
		
			  Table 2: The number of prisoners held in police cells as ad-hoc lockouts 
			   Number 
			 2003 1,037 
			 2004 682 
			 2005 918 
			 2006 1,062 
			 2007 126 
		
	
	The agreed basic charge for ad-hoc lockouts is £55 per prisoner per night. Police forces may invoice additional charges to cover weekend and bank holidays, medical charges and the need for additional staff. The average cost is therefore estimated to be £120 per prisoner per night.

Prisoners: Release

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in how many cases the current residential address of a  (a) former convicted prisoner and  (b) foreign national former prisoner subject to supervision following release is not known.

David Hanson: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost as the data is retained in probation office files, and would have to be collated manually as there is no appropriate search function within the databases.

Prisons

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many existing prison places he plans to withdraw in each year until 2014.

David Hanson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (Mr. Straw) announced on 5 December 2007 in response to the review on prisons by Lord Carter an additional 10,500 prison places by 2014 including up to three large 'Titan' prisons, housing around 2,500 prisoners each.
	The Carter Review proposed that this increase in capacity will allow the Government to close around 5,000 places in old, inefficient prisons by 2014. Decisions on and the timetable for which prisons should be closed or places removed from use will be made as the programme for these new prison places is developed.
	In addition, there is a planned rolling programme of refurbishment of accommodation across the prison estate, which requires the temporary closure of prison places. This allows the critical maintenance of the estate to be undertaken whilst having no significant net change on the number of places in use.

Prisons: Education

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners have been released to take part in educational programmes in the community in 2007; and what plans he has to increase that number in future years.

David Hanson: The latest available data on the numbers of releases on temporary licence for training and education relates to 2006, and is published in Offender Management Caseload Statistics (Tables 10.6 and 10.6a), a copy of which is available from the Library of the House and from the following website
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/prisonandprobation.htm
	Prisoners will only be released on temporary licence if they meet the eligibility criteria and pass a risk assessment. Governors have an overriding duty, when considering any release, to ensure that both public safety and public confidence in the system are maintained.
	Data shows that numbers of offenders released to take part in educational programmes continues to increase and will support the Prison Service in maintaining this, subject to the abovementioned concerns being satisfied. It is one of the Government's key objectives to improve the skills and employment outcomes of (ex) offenders as set out in our "Reducing Re-Offending Through Skills and Employment: Next Steps" action plan.

Probation Service

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has for future levels of funding of the Probation Service.

Maria Eagle: Probation funding for the next three years, 2008-09 to 2010-11 is not yet confirmed by the Ministry of Justice. Provisional budget planning figures have recently been issued for probation boards' main grant only for 2008-09 which show an increase of over 2 per cent. for probation boards.

Security Breaches

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many confirmed data security breaches there have been in his Department in the last 36 months; and what action was taken after each occurrence.

Michael Wills: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 November 2007,  Official Report, column 1179. The review by the Cabinet Secretary and security experts is looking at procedures within Departments and agencies for the storage and use of data. A statement on Departments' procedures will be made on completion of the review. An interim progress report on the review was published by the Cabinet Office through a written ministerial statement on 17 December 2007,  Official Report, column 98WS.
	A small number of incidents involving breach of our data security controls have been reported and investigated. Three of these have been reported to the Information Commissioner as potential breaches.
	Except in exceptional cases, when it is in the public interest, it has been the policy of successive governments not to comment on particular breaches of security.

Youth Justice Body

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many performance indicators the Youth Justice Body has instructed local authorities to monitor as part of their local area agreements.

David Hanson: There are six youth justice indicators in the national indicator set for Local Government. The six indicators are:
	The rate of proven re-offending by young offenders;
	Percentage of young people within the Youth Justice System receiving a conviction in court who are sentenced to custody;
	Ethnic composition of offenders on Youth Justice System disposals;
	Young offenders' engagement in suitable education, employment or training;
	Young offenders access to suitable accommodation;
	The number of first time entrants to the Youth Justice System aged 10 to 17.
	National indicators will be reported on by local authorities in England regardless of whether they are in a specific local area agreement (LAA). LAA's are agreed between local authorities and central Government.

Departmental Recycling

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what  (a) volume and  (b) percentage of its waste his Department recycled in each of the last five years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department does not hold records on recycling for the last five years.
	DCMS introduced a new waste management system in January 2007 at its Cockspur Street offices. The average monthly recycling rate is 59 per cent.

Departmental Recycling

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much and what proportion of its waste his Department recycled in each of the last five years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department does not hold records on recycling for the last five years.
	DCMS introduced a new waste management system in January 2007 at its Cockspur street offices. The average monthly recycling rate is 59 per cent.

Gambling

Anthony D Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the average premises licence fees levied on  (a) family entertainment centres and  (b) adult gaming centres by local authorities was in 2006-07.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The average premises licences fees for  (a) family entertainment centres and  (b) adult gaming centres by local authorities are set out in the table. This data is calculated from fee data returns collected by my Department from 95 per cent. of licensing authorities. Full details of all premises licence fees are available on the DCMS website
	www.culture.gov.uk.
	
		
			  £ 
			  Premises type  Fast track application fee (for existing premises)  Average new application fee  Average annual fee 
			 Family entertainment centres 242 790 564 
			 Adult gaming centres 243 796 717

Sports: Finance

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the level of public funding for  (a) sport and  (b) women's sport has been in each of the last five years; and which sport received the most money per participant.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Exchequer and Lottery spending on sport in England in each of the last five years was:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 Lottery 350 297 249 419 344 
			 Exchequer 137 140 235 273 377 
			 Total 487 437 484 692 721 
		
	
	The Exchequer figures show DCMS spending through UK Sport and Sport England, and DCSF spending on school sport through the Youth Sport Trust. The Lottery figures show spending through UK Sport, Sport England, the Big Lottery Fund and its predecessors (Community Fund and New Opportunities Fund).
	It is not possible to provide total figures for investment into women's sport, or which sport received the most money per participant, as information is not held in this format.
	We do have figures on programmes specifically targeted at women.
	The Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation, which exists to promote physical activity as an integral part of life for women and girls, has received the following funding:
	
		
			  £ 
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 Core costs (Exchequer) 150,000 200,000 200,000 200,000 329,333 
			 Project support (Exchequer) — — — — (1)33,000 
			 Project support (Lottery) — 83,729 — 65,207 56,454 
			 Total 150,000 283,729 200,000 265,207 418,787 
			 (1) £20,000 to support work across the Sports Equity Alliance, not solely women's sport. 
		
	
	UK Sport has funded the following women's sport programmes:
	£30,000 (£10,000 in 2006-07 and £20,000 in 2007-08) has been invested in the Women and Leadership Development Programme, establish in partnership with the BOA and CCPR to address the lack of women in senior decision making sports positions.
	£67,500 has been invested between 2004 and 2008 in international women's sport development projects.
	Synchronised swimming, (£1,617,000 for April 2006 to March 2009) and rhythmic gymnastics (integrated into the overall British Gymnastics Beijing award of £9 million) which are both female only sports.
	Since 2003, female athletes have received 39 to 41 per cent. of UK Sport World Class Performance Programme and World Class Pathway Programme awards.

Stonehenge: Visitors' Centre

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the total cost has been to  (a) his Department and its predecessors and  (b) its agencies of (i) public enquiries, (ii) public consultations, (iii) public exhibitions, (iv) public information initiatives, (v) consultancy fees and (vi) all others costs incurred in connection with the proposed English Heritage Visitors' Centre at Stonehenge and the associated road improvement on the A303(T) since 1986.

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost has been to  (a) his Department and  (b) English Heritage of preparatory work in connection with the Stonehenge Visitors' Centre.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 17 December 2007
	English Heritage records for expenditure on the Stonehenge visitor centre proposals commence at 1990-91. A total of some £16.0 million has been spent on developing various schemes for a new visitor centre. This includes funds to purchase land for the proposed site, which can be used for other purposes, together with consultancy and project team costs associated with the architectural, structural and environmental design of the centre including costs associated with public enquiries.
	It is not possible to disaggregate costs in the manner requested but broadly the split of costs is as follows:
	
		
			£ million 
			 1990-91 to 1997-98 Original feasibility study and proposals 4.2 
			 1997-98 to 2002-03 Public private partnership scheme development 1.9 
			 2000-01 Purchase of the Countess East site and Countess road properties 3.4 
			 2000-01 to 2006-07 Countess East scheme 6.5 
		
	
	Additional staff costs have fallen to my Department but these are included in overall running costs and are not separately recorded.
	The costs for the A303 Stonehenge improvement scheme were given in the answer to the hon. Member for Salisbury (Robert Key) by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. Tom Harris) on 18 December 2007,  Official Report, column 1426W.

Carbon Sequestration

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform 
	(1)  what research he has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the maturity and practicality of carbon capture and storage technologies;
	(2)  what research the Department has carried out on the cost of carbon capture and storage technology.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department has published two reports on Carbon Capture and Storage: 'The Review of Carbon Capture and Storage in the UK' and 'The Carbon Abatement Technology (CAT) Strategy for Fossil Fuel Use', provide the results in these areas. Both reports can be found in the House of Commons Library and also on the BERR website at:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/coal/cfft/co2capture/review.pdf
	and
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/coal/cfft/cct/pub/catreportlinked.pdf.
	The supporting analysis underpinning the carbon abatement technology strategy which can be found at
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/energv/coal/cfft/cct/pub/pdfs/r301.pdf
	provides the work to date on predicting the impact of deploying this technology. Further work on this area is planned as part of an update of the CAT strategy.
	Additionally, Poyry Ltd carried out a study in June 2006 on the North sea CCS pipeline infrastructure. The study, commissioned by BERR, on behalf of the UK, Norway and the North sea basin task force, has now been completed and is also available on the BERR web site at:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/sources/sustainable/carbon-abatement-tech/ccs/nsbtf/page42482.html
	The Department also commissioned engineers PB Power to assess proposed CCS projects in the UK and to advise the Government on whether to support a CCS demonstration. This work is commercially confidential and is not in the public domain.

Fuel Poverty: Lincolnshire

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many households are classified as living in fuel poverty in  (a) North East Lincolnshire and  (b) North Lincolnshire.

Malcolm Wicks: Regional estimates of fuel poverty are available only for England in 2003 and are taken from the Fuel Poverty Indicator (FPI) dataset (available online at http://www.fuelpovertyindicator.org.uk/). This estimates that there were 4,600 fuel poor households in North East Lincolnshire and 4,300 in North Lincolnshire.
	It is important to note that the FPI only predicts the level of poverty in individual areas. It cannot take into account local circumstances. As with all small area indicators, it is important to use local knowledge and data to complement the FPI when developing local fuel poverty programmes.

Political Levy

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment  (a) his Department and  (b) the Certification Officer has made of the number of trades unions which affiliate more members to the Labour Party than they have members paying the political levy.

Patrick McFadden: Neither the Department nor the Certification Officer has made an assessment about the number of member trade unions affiliated to the Labour Party.

Post Offices

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what discussions he has had with  (a) the Post Office and  (b) others on the timetable for the Network Change Programme consultation; what changes have been made following these discussions; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: The timetable for the Network Change Programme was set out in July of this year. In line with the Cabinet Office guidelines on consultations during local elections POL have now agreed to suspend the process during the local election campaign. As a consequence of these changes, the start of consultations and announcements of decisions on plans which were previously scheduled for after 1 May 2008 are put back by four weeks on average.
	It remains POL's intention to complete the Network Change Programme by end of next year.

Regional Development Agencies: Finance

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what criteria were used to allocate the funding referred to in the answer of 23 October 2007,  Official Report, column 195W, on regional development agencies: finance to each regional development agency; and what the reasons were for the variation between regional development agencies of their administrative costs as a percentage of their respective grants.

Stephen Timms: The regional development agencies' budget for 2007-08 were allocated to the RDAs following the Spending Review 2004. Grant in aid was divided between the RDAs using a funding formula which takes into account the needs of the region (including skills, worklessness and productivity).
	Once the overall budgets were set, the RDAs produced corporate plans in which they set out their requirements for pay and non pay administration costs. Those plans were approved by Ministers.
	Differences in the proportion of the total budget spent on administration by RDAs arise for a number of reasons. These include the different geographic size and population of the region, the different sizes of the RDAs total budget and the different choices which the Agencies make in terms of whether they deliver particular objectives themselves or whether they operate through sub regional partners.

Sakhalin Island: Pipelines

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what his policy is on underwriting the Sakhalin II oil and gas development; when he expects to make a decision on underwriting exploration; and how much he expects to underwrite.

Malcolm Wicks: ECGD will apply its normal underwriting policy and its business principles to consideration of support for this project taking into account its Case Impact Assessment Process see
	www.ecgd.gov.uk
	A decision on whether to support the project and on the amount of any such support will be made after ECGD has completed its financial, technical, environmental and other due diligence. This will take into consideration comments received on the project from other interested parties, including NGOs.

Social Security Benefits: Christmas

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions on the timetable of pension and benefits payments in the period before Christmas 2007.

Patrick McFadden: None. However, I understand from Post Office Ltd. that it is confident that its horizon system has the capacity to cope with the number of transactions expected to take place on 24 December. State pensions for 1.4 million Post Office card account holders will be payable from 21 December giving those pensioners the choice of three days on which to draw their pensions and spreading the transaction volumes for sub post offices and the Horizon system. Post Office Ltd. will monitor performance of their systems closely in the days preceding the holiday period and has comprehensive contingency plans in place.

Waste Heat Recovery

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what research his Department has carried out into mapping the potential for heat capture in the UK.

Malcolm Wicks: In the Energy White Paper we said that we would conduct further work into the policy options available to reduce the carbon impact of heat including the capture and use of surplus heat. This work is being led by the Office of Climate Change and officials from my Department along with other Departments.
	As announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on the 19 November, a call for evidence on heat will be published in January 2008.
	The OCC's Heat Project aims to improve the understanding of how heat can be cost-effectively decarbonised, including how heat can be supplied from renewable sources. This work is being taken forward under the four workstreams:
	(i) Carbon Markets;
	(ii) Renewable Heat;
	(iii) Community Heating; and
	(iv) Large Scale Heat.
	BERR and other Government Departments have been working closely with the Office of Climate Change (OCC), providing input to their heat strategy.
	My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister recently announced that the Call for Evidence would be jointly published in January 2008 by BERR, DEFRA and CLG.

Academies: Admissions

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils aged  (a) three to 15,  (b) 14 to 15 and  (c) 16 to 19 there are expected to be in academy schools in each year between 2008-09 and 2010-11.

Jim Knight: The following table shows the estimated number of pupils aged  (a) three to 15,  (b) 14 to 15 and  (c) 16 to 19 that are expected to be in academy schools in the following academic years 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11.
	These estimates are based on 200 academies being open by 2010, they are subject to change as we move towards opening 400 academies. This is consistent with the projections published in Department Annual Report 2007 and the submission of 16 May 2007.
	
		
			  Projected numbers of pupils( 1)  in academies 
			  Thousand 
			   2009  2010  2011 
			  At January at previous  31 August
			 Aged 3-15 114 136 184 
			 Aged 14-15 40 49 68 
			 Aged 16-19 20 26 36 
			 (1) Full-time equivalents, counting each part-time pupil as 0.5. The numbers have been rounded to the nearest one thousand.   Note: Projections use 2006 School Census Data and are being updated in early 2008.

Academies: Standards

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what external assessments of the academies programme will be  (a) completed and  (b) published in the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: In February 2003, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) was commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to conduct an independent five-year evaluation of the Academies programme. The aim of the evaluation is to assess the overall effectiveness of the programme in terms of its contribution to educational standards, and to examine the impact of key features of academies including sponsorship, governance, leadership and buildings. The first four reports have already been published and the fifth and final report will be published in summer 2008.

Building Schools for the Future Programme: Fire Extinguishers

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what the Government's policy is on the inclusion of sprinkler systems within schools being rebuilt under Building Schools for the Future; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  which schools  (a) have been built,  (b) are being built and  (c) are planned for re-build under Building Schools for the Future in each local authority area; and whether each has included a sprinkler system.

Jim Knight: The Department announced its policy on sprinkler systems for schools in March 2007. The policy is that a risk assessment should be undertaken for new and refurbishment projects in all categories of state-funded schools including all BSF schools. To help local authorities and school designers to decide when sprinklers are needed, DCSF has produced a risk assessment tool and a cost benefit analysis tool. See www.teachernetgov.uk/fire and follow links to Sprinklers.
	Our presumption is that new schools and some refurbished schools will have fire sprinklers installed, however this is not a compulsory measure. There may be cases where local authorities or other promoters of schools consider that sprinklers are not needed. If so, they will need to be able to demonstrate that such schools are very low risk and that sprinklers would not represent good value for money.
	To date, seven schools have been built under the Building Schools for the Future programme, in Bristol, Solihull, Haringey, Sheffield, South Tyneside, Stoke and Sunderland; these include six 'early win' projects. We believe that the Bristol Brunei Academy is the only one fitted with a sprinkler system. This was a large new build project and the most suitable for a sprinkler installation. Five of the other six schools were refurbishment projects where it may not have been technically feasible to install sprinkler systems. It is also more expensive to install sprinklers in a refurbishment which means they do not always provide good value for money. These projects were all in the late design or construction stage when the new sprinkler policy was announced which would have made it more expensive and technically difficult to install sprinkler systems unless they were part of the original design.
	We expect approximately 80 schools to be under construction in the current financial year in the following local authorities: Bradford, Bristol, Lewisham, Sheffield, Knowsley, Lancashire, Leeds, Leicester, Manchester, Newcastle, Solihull, Stoke, Sunderland, Waltham Forest, Lambeth, Durham and Kent.
	Under Building Schools for the Future, we plan to rebuild, remodel or refurbish all secondary schools in England.
	For projects that were either in a late stage of design or in construction when the new sprinkler policy was announced it is difficult to introduce a sprinkler system. However, for new projects and those still in an early stage of design we expect sprinklers to be included.

Children: Literacy

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent representations he has received on the reading ability of school children in England.

Jim Knight: The recently published Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) shows we have performed well compared to other countries. On average, pupils in England achieved significantly above the international mean.
	More generally, improving standards of literacy is one of this Government's top priority. We have seen dramatic improvements in the proportion of 11-year-olds achieving the target level 4 and above in reading. In 2007, 84 per cent. of pupils achieved this level—a rise of 17 percentage points compared to 1997. A third of 11-year-olds achieved the higher level 5 in reading, the standard expected of 14-year-olds.
	
		
			  Proportion of pupils achieving level 4+ in reading 
			   Level 4  Level 5 
			 1997 67 20 
			 1998 71 23 
			 1999 78 31 
			 2000 83 42 
			 2001 82 42 
			 2002 80 38 
			 2003 81 42 
			 2004 83 39 
			 2005 84 43 
			 2006 83 47 
			 2007(1) 84 48 
			 (1) Amended data. 
		
	
	Although these results are the best ever, we know that we can and must do more. We have a strong platform for securing further improvements. The Children's Plan, published on 11 December sets out that vision and our goals for achieving world class standards.
	Every primary school is now using the renewed Primary Framework which puts phonics at the heart of the teaching of reading. We are also introducing nationally the Every Child a Reader (ECAR) programme. By 2011 this programme will provide 30,000 six-year-olds who have difficulty reading with intensive one-to-one tuition each year. Results from the first year of the pilot, involving some of the most disadvantaged children, showed they made well over four times the normal rate of progress in reading as a result of the programme.

Education: Assessments

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether it is the policy of his Department to regard trends in examination results in England as reliable quantitative indicators of long-term changes in educational standards; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The Department has a public service agreement (PSA) to support its strategic objective to achieve world class standards in education by raising the educational achievement of all children and young people. The proportion of young people who succeed in public examinations is one of the key performance indicators of this PSA. In this context it is important that exam standards are maintained, which is why the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has rigorous procedures in place for ensuring consistency over time.
	To ensure the reliability of the PSAs, each target is supported by guidance which sets out exactly how it will be measured. The Department is committed to ensuring that PSA targets are supported by rigorous performance information and in conjunction with the National Audit Office (NAO) has reviewed the data systems underpinning the former DfES PSA targets and is acting on these findings. A copy of the departmental report on progress towards meeting the Department's public service agreement (PSA) targets has been placed in the Library.

Family Courts

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average time was to complete a  (a) private law and  (b) public law case in the family courts in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the average cost was of each.

Bridget Prentice: I have been asked to reply.
	In the county court, for the period April to November 2007, it took on average 33.12 weeks to complete a private law case and 55.02 weeks for a public law case. There is no data currently collected in the Family Proceedings Court (FPCs) on the average length of private law cases. In the FPCs the average duration of cases where a care or supervision order was made (April 2007 to November 2007) was 44.3 weeks. Between April and November 2007, 51 per cent. of care and supervision cases in FPCs and 39.6 per cent. of care and supervision cases in care centres were completed within 40 weeks.
	The unit cost for private law applications (judicial and administrative costs) for financial year 2006-07 is £996 in the county courts and £1,232 in the Family Proceedings Courts. The equivalent figures for public law applications are £4,286 and £4,014. The average legal aid cost of private law matters is £2,790 and for public law matters is £5,961. No information is held centrally on average local authority costs.

General Certificate of Secondary Education: Free School Meals

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of white British boys eligible for free school meals failed to obtain at least five GCSEs at any level in each year between 1996 and 2007; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The available information covers the proportion of pupils achieving 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE or equivalent and are given in the table.
	
		
			  Percentage of white British boys eligible for free school meals who achieved five A*-C grades at GCSE or equivalent( 1) , at maintained schools, 2002 to 2006 
			   Percentage achieving 5 A*-C grades  Percentage not achieving 5 A*-C grades 
			 2002(2) 16.1 83.9 
			 2003 16.8 83.2 
			 2004 18.3 81.7 
			 2005 21.0 79.0 
			 2006 24.0 76.0 
			 (1) Based upon 15 year old pupils (age at start of academic year) for figures up to and including 2004. For 2005 onwards figures are based upon pupils at the end of Key Stage 4.  (2) Figures for 2002 relate to pupils classified as 'white' rather than 'white British'. 
		
	
	Data is sourced from the National Pupil Database which began in 2002. The latest figures relate to 2006 where 90.9 per cent. of white British boys eligible for free school meals achieved any passes (9.1 per cent. achieving no passes). These figures are published in Table 32 of SFR46/2006 "National Curriculum Assessment, GCSE and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment by Pupil Characteristics in England 2005-06, (Provisional)" which can be found at
	http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000693/index.shtml.
	Equivalent figures for 2006-07 will be published at the end of January 2008 as additional tables to SFR 38/2007 which can be found at
	http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000759/index.shtml .

General Certificate of Secondary Education: North East Region

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of pupils in  (a) the City of Sunderland and  (b) the North East achieved more than five A* to C grades at GCSE in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight: The information requested is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Proportion of 15-year-old pupils( 1)  achieving five or more GCSEs at grades A*-C at GCSE or equivalent—years: 1997-2007 (Sunderland LA and the North East region) 
			  Year( 2)  Sunderland  North East region 
			 1996/97(3) 34.4 36.8 
			 1997/98 32.3 37.1 
			 1998/99 34.6 39.4 
			 1999/2000 38.4 41.7 
			 2000/01 39.2 42.5 
			 2001/02 41.6 44.3 
			 2002/03 44.1 46.8 
			 2003/04(4) 44.2 48,7 
			 2004/05 51.5 53.5 
			 2005/06 54.9 57.3 
			 2006/07 58.7 59.6 
			 (1) Number of pupils on roll aged 15 at the start of the academic year, i.e. 31 August. (2) Data for 2007 is provisional and final for all other years. (3) Percentages from 1996/97 include GCSEs and GNVQs. (4) Percentages from 2003/04 include GCSEs and other equivalent qualifications approved for use pre-16.  Source: Secondary School Achievement and Attainment tables 
		
	
	Figures include achievements in previous academic years.
	The increase in the proportion of 15-year-old pupils achieving five or more good GCSEs in Sunderland (24.3 per cent.) and the North East region (22.8 per cent.) compares favourably with a national increase of 15.2 per cent. over the same period.

General Certificate of Secondary Education: Standards

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of students at Key Stage 3 achieved  (a) no GCSE passes and  (b) fewer than five GCSE passes in each year between 1996 and 2007.

Jim Knight: The information requested is contained in the following table.
	
		
			  Proportions of students achieving (a) no GCSE passes and (b) fewer than five GCSE passes—years: 1996/97 to 2006/07( 1)  (provisional)( 2) 
			  Coverage: England 
			Percentage who achieved 
			   Number of pupils( 3)  No  passes at GCSE or equivalent( 4)  Fewer than five A*-G grades at GCSE or equivalent 
			  15-year-olds
			 1996/97(5) 586,766 7.7 13.6 
			 1997/98 575,210 6.6 12.5 
			 1998/99 580,972 6.0 11.5 
			 1999/2000 580,393 5.6 11.1 
			 2000/01 603,318 5.5 11.1 
			 2001/02 606,554 5.4 11.1 
			 2002/03 622,122 5.2 11.2 
			 2003/04(6) 643,560 4.1 11.2 
			 2004/05 636,771 3.6 11.0 
			 2005/06 648,942 3.3 10.6 
			 2006/07 656,667 2.7 10.1 
			 
			  Pupils at end Key Stage 4
			 2004/05 633,414 2.6 9.8 
			 2005/06 645,931 2.2 9.5 
			 2006/07 648,752 0.9 8.4 
			 (1) Including attempts and achievement in previous academic years. (2) Figures for 2006/07 are provisional, all other figures are final. (3) Number of pupils on roll aged 15 at the start of the academic year or from 2004/05 end of Key Stage 4 figures are the number of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 in that academic year. (4) From 2003/04 this includes attempts in entry level qualifications which do not contribute towards A*-C or A*-G thresholds. (5) Percentages for all years include GCSEs and GNVQs. (6) Percentages from 2003/04 include GCSEs and other equivalent qualifications approved for use pre-16.  Source: Secondary School Achievement and Attainment tables 
		
	
	Figures for pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 are only available from 2004/05 onwards.

Grammar Schools

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many requests to open new grammar schools were received from each local authority in each year since 1997; what approval is needed from his Department to open a new grammar school; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Since September 1999 one new school, in Buckinghamshire, has been designated as a grammar school. The school opened in September 1999 and was established in substitution for a closing grammar school. Information held on proposals to establish new schools made prior to September 1999 is not reliable and has therefore not been included.
	Section 104 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 provides that no new additional grammar schools may be established. There are 164 designated grammar schools, and this number has remained constant since 1999, Section 104 provides that a new school may be designated as a grammar school only if it is established in substitution for a closing grammar school or schools.

Languages: Education

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps the Government has taken to improve standards of foreign language education in schools since 1997.

Jim Knight: holding answer 18 December 2007
	As the hon. Gentleman will be aware from my answer of 8 November, in 2002 the Government published the National Languages Strategy, with the overarching objective of improving the teaching and learning of languages across all phases of education. The Languages review, chaired by Lord Bearing and Lid King, the National Director of Languages, progressed this process further.
	We have taken a number of steps to improve standards of foreign language education. This week we have confirmed in the Children's Plan that the review of the primary curriculum will examine how best to introduce languages as a compulsory subject in primary schools, which will include how standards can be assessed.
	Standards in languages at key stage 3 are rising faster than in any other subject. The proportion of pupils achieving level 5 and above rose from 54 per cent. to 58 per cent. between 2006 and 2007, while the figure for those who achieved level 6 or above rose from 22 per cent. to 25 per cent. This improvement has been supported by the development of Strategic Learning Networks, enabling language teachers to work together and share good practice. The revised key stage 3 curriculum will be more relevant and engaging for young people and should continue this improvement in standards. Specialist language colleges receive additional money for outreach work with local schools, which can be used to improve standards at key stage 4.
	The proportion of those pupils achieving an A*-C grade in a GCSE language subject has increased from 48 per cent. in 1997 to 66 per cent. in 2007.
	The Languages Ladder/Asset Languages Scheme, introduced in 2005, complements existing qualifications and allows learners to progress at their own pace in one or more of the four language skills—speaking, listening, reading and writing. This allows pupils who may not previously have achieved a languages qualification to have their achievement recognised.
	Finally, we have announced the development of a new diploma in languages to be introduced from 2011.

Languages: GCE A-Level

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will require all maintained schools and colleges with sixth forms to offer modern languages to A-level; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: We have no plans to do so. Choice of which subjects to offer at A level is a matter for schools to determine. We were pleased to see a small increase in the number of pupils studying languages at A level in 2007. This shows that young people choosing to learn languages at GCSE are enthusiastic language learners who are more likely to continue learning post-16.

Mandarin: Teachers

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many teachers with a language specialism in Mandarin Chinese qualified in the last 12 month period for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: Data relating to the language specialisms of Initial Teacher Training (ITT) trainees is not collected centrally.
	In 2005/06 there were two postgraduate ITT trainees who gained Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and had an undergraduate UK degree in a subject related to Mandarin. One trainee had an undergraduate degree in applied languages and the other in Chinese (modern).
	There are currently no ITT courses which specialise in Mandarin only.

Personal Social and Health Education

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of parents who opted their children out of personal social and health education in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of schools which did not include sex and relationships education in their personal social and health education curriculum in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(3)  how many  (a) school nurses and  (b) school nurses who teach sex and relationships education in schools there were in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: holding answer 17 December 2007
	The Department does not collect data on the number of pupils withdrawn from Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). However, Ofsted's survey on SRE published in 2002 found that only 0.04 per cent. of pupils were withdrawn from the non-statutory aspects of SRE normally delivered through PSHE.
	Similarly, the Department does not collect data or the number of schools who include SRE within PSHE, but departmental guidance on SRE (DfES, 2000) makes clear that schools should embed SRE within their programmes for PSHE.
	In 2006 there were 1,129 school nurses with a school nurse qualification (an increase of 31.9 per cent. since 2004). Their involvement in the delivery of SRE is a decision for primary care trusts and individual schools. The Department recognises the unique contribution that school nurses make to SRE and encourages all those involved in classroom delivery to undertake the National PSHE: Continuing Professional Development Programme. This accredited programme supports standards in the delivery of PSHE teaching including sex and relationships education.

Pupils: English Language

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children of school age there are who are bilingual learners or have English as a second language, in each local authority.

Jim Knight: holding answer 17 December 2007
	 The available information has been placed in the Library. This can be found in SFR 30/2007 "Schools and Pupils in England: January 2007 (Final)" which is available on the Department's website here:
	http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000744/index.shtml
	The table shows pupils by first language status, information on bilingual learners is not collected.

School Leaving: Newcastle

Doug Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will make an assessment of the likely costs to the Newcastle local education authority of raising the school leaving age to 18.

Jim Knight: The estimated costs of raising the participation age were set out in the regulatory impact assessment (RIA) published alongside the Education and Skills Bill on 29 November 2007. Costs were projected to be around £800 million per cohort of young people but the economic benefits were estimated to be around £2,400 million on the same basis.
	The RIA can be accessed at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/publications/educationandskills/
	and I have placed a copy in the Library of the House.
	The Department has not made detailed economic projections at a local level. Demographic changes will vary between local areas, of course, as will the nature of demand from young people, and local authorities will need to use their own projections to plan accordingly.
	The proposed legislation is for the education and training leaving age, not the school leaving age to be raised to 18 years. This will be done in two stages, with the participation age not being raised to 18 until 2015.

Science: Teachers

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of science teachers in  (a) primary schools and  (b) secondary schools have a GCSE science qualification at grade C or above.

Jim Knight: The information requested is not collected centrally.
	Information on the number of full-time teachers in service in secondary schools by the highest post A level qualification in the subject they teach is available from the Secondary School Curriculum and Staffing Survey (SSCSS) an occasional sample survey last conducted in 2002 and 2007. 2007 figures are expected to be published in spring 2008.
	The following table provides the number of teachers teaching each subject area and the level of qualification in that subject in 2002, the latest information available.
	
		
			  Teachers in Service: Full-time teachers in maintained secondary schools—Highest post A level qualifications( 1)  held in the subjects they teach( 2)  to year groups 7-13, England 
			   Percentages  
			   Degree( 3)  BEd  PGCE  Cert Ed  Other Qual.  No Qual.  Total teachers (Thousand) 
			 Mathematics 42 ± 3 15 ± 2 9 ± 2 7 ± 1 2 ± 1 24 ± 2 28.2 
			 English 51 ± 3 15 ± 2 7 ± 1 6 ± 1 1 ± 1 20 ± 2 29.4 
			 Combined/General science 62 ± 3 12 ± 2 10 ± 2 4 ± 1 1 ± 1 11 ± 2 28.3 
			 Biology(4) 71 ± 5 7 ± 3 11 ± 4 3 ± 2 - ± 1 7 ± 3 5.6 
			 Chemistry(4) 72 ± 5 6 ± 3 12 ± 4 1 ± 1 1 ± 1 7 ± 3 5.2 
			 Physics(4) 63 ± 6 11 ± 4 15 ± 4 3 ± 2 - ± - 8 ± 3 4.7 
			 Other sciences(4) 10 ± 6 4 ± 4 5 ± 4 - ± - - ± - 80 ± 8 1.6 
			 
			 French 54 ± 3 7 ± 2 10 ± 2 3 ± 1 2 ± 1 23 ± 3 16.0 
			 German 47 ± 5 6 ± 3 13 ± 4 1 ± 1 2 ± 1 30 ± 5 6.9 
			 Spanish 37 ± 7 8 ± 4 19 ± 6 - ± - 3 ± 2 33 ± 7 3.6 
			 Other modern languages 18 ± 8 - ± - 9 ± 7 - ± - 3 ± 4 71 ±10 1.4 
			 
			 Design and technology(5) 26 ± 3 20 ± 3 7 ± 2 21 ± 3 2 ± 1 24 ± 3 20.9 
			 ICT(5, 6) 13 ± 2 6 ± 1 8 ± 2 2 ± 1 3 ± 1 69 ± 3 18.9 
			 Other/Combined technology(5) 30± 1 0 13 ± 8 16 ± 7 18 ± 9 2 ± 3 20 ± 9 1.6 
			 
			 Business studies 30 ± 5 11 ± 4 9 ± 3 4 ± 2 3 ± 2 43 ± 5 6.5 
			 Classics 33 ± 7 - ± - 2 ± 4 2 ± - - ± - 63 ± 7 1.0 
			 History 57 ± 4 9 ± 2 6 ± 2 6 ± 2 - ± - 23 ± 3 13.7 
			 Religious education 22 ± 3 8 ± 2 8 ± 2 4 ± 1 2 ± 1 57 ± 4 14.2 
			 Geography 53 ± 4 9 ± 2 6 ± 2 5 ± 2 1 ± 1 25 ± 3 13.7 
			 Other social studies 35 ± 5 6 ± 3 2 ± 2 2 ± 1 - ± 1 54 ± 6 4.9 
			 Combined arts/humanities/ social studies 5 ± 3 4 ± 2 7 ± 3 1 ± 1 1 ± 1 83 ± 5 5.3 
			 
			 Music 59 ± 5 15 ± 4 5 ± 2 6 ± 3 2 ± 2 13 ± 4 6.3 
			 Drama 25 ± 4 10 ± 3 12 ± 3 6 ± 2 2 ± 1 45 ± 5 8.1 
			 Art and design 54 ± 4 10 ± 3 7 ± 2 9 ± 3 1 ± 1 20 ± 4 9.3 
			 Physical education 25 ± 3 31 ± 3 6 ± 2 13 ± 2 2 ± 1 22 ± 2 21.4 
			 Careers education 2 ± 2 1 ± 2 3 ± 3 4 ± 4 3 ± 4 87 ± 7 1.5 
			 PSHE(6) 1 ± - 1 ± - 2 ± 1 1 ± - - ± - 95 ± 1 61.4 
			 General studies 1 ± 1 2 ± 1 1 ± 1 - ± 1 - ± - 95 ± 2 7.1 
			 Citizenship 2 ± 1 1 ± 1 2 ± 1 - ± 1 - ± - 94 ± 2 9.0 
			 Other — — — — — — 32.8 
			 
			 Total(2, 7) 33 ± - 10 ±- 7 ± - 5 ± - 1 ± - 44 ± - 388.4 
			 '-' = zero or less than 0.5. (1) Where a teacher has more than one post A level qualification in the same subject, the qualification level is determined by the highest level reading from left (Degree) to right (Other Qual.). For example, teachers shown under PGCE have a PGCE but not a degree or BEd in the subject, while those with a PGCE and a degree are shown only under Degree. (2) Teachers are counted once against each subject which they are teaching. (3) Includes higher degrees but excludes BEds. (4) Teachers qualified in combined/general science are treated as qualified to teach biology, chemistry, or physics. Teachers qualified in biology, chemistry or physics are treated as qualified to teach combined/general science. (5) Teachers qualified in other/combined technology are treated as qualified to teach design and technology or information and communication technology. Teachers qualified in design and technology or information and communication technology are treated as qualified to teach other/combined technology. (6) Information and Communication Technology is abbreviated as ICT and Personal Social and Health Education is abbreviated as PSHE. (7) 'Other' not included in total percentages.  Source: Secondary Schools Curriculum and Staffing Survey 2002.

Vocational Training: Sunderland

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department is taking to ensure that residents from the city of Sunderland will have the necessary skills to take advantage of jobs resulting from the Olympics in 2012.

David Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills has a joint responsibility with the Department for Work and Pensions to maximise the employment and skills benefits for the UK arising from Games-related business. In the main, this will be achieved using existing initiatives such as Train to Gain, as we help employers in meeting their skill needs to design, build and deliver the Games, and encourage individuals to develop their skills so that they can compete for opportunities and progress within the labour market beyond 2012. To do this, we have initiated a programme of activities which are nation or UK-wide, rather than related to specific cities or regions. On the employer side, two cluster groups of sector skills councils are leading two areas: one to look specifically at the issues relating to the built environment and environmental improvements for the Games; and the other is looking at the staging and legacy aspects of the Games. Other specific employer-led initiatives include a programme of media training placements being developed by Skillset; the national skills strategy for hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism in England developed by People 1st; and the National Skills Academy for Construction centre on the Olympic site which the Prime Minister announced on 29 November. For individuals, initiatives include new advanced apprenticeships in sporting excellence; customer service and hospitality apprenticeships; and the LDA-led Personal Best Programme which is currently being piloted in London but will be offered nationally and is targeted at individuals furthest away from the labour market to improve skills and promote employability.
	Within the Sunderland area itself initiatives include promoting business opportunities to Sunderland companies; engaging in discussions regarding the Cultural Olympiad; Sunderland venues registering as possible venues for pre-Games training camps; and Sunderland university has been involved in discussions concerning the North-east's regional cultural volunteering programme. The north-east's plans for the Games also include the development of a sport-related work force and making the most of the opportunities available for the key nine sectors in the regional economic strategy.

Christmas

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  whether it is her Department's policy to use  (a) incandescent light bulbs and  (b) LED lights for festive decorations on departmental premises;
	(2)  what her Department's policy is on the selection of  (a) real and  (b) artificial Christmas trees for her Department's festive decorations; and how real trees are disposed of.

Parmjit Dhanda: Communities and Local Government provides a real Christmas tree in the reception of its three HQ buildings. The trees are sustainably sourced, whereby for each tree harvested, another is planted. These are decorated using ultra-energy efficient LED lights. The trees are disposed of sustainably by conversion to wood chips for composting and mulching.

Community Relations: Chelmsford

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to improve community cohesion in West Chelmsford constituency.

Parmjit Dhanda: Both "Strong and Prosperous Communities" the Local Government White Paper and the Government's initial response to the Commission on Integration and Cohesion's final report, "Our Shared Future", we recognise the need to respond to the community cohesion challenge faced by increasing change in local communities.
	In the 2006 Best Value Survey West Chelmsford scored above the national average on the measure for cohesion ("the percentage of residents who agree that their local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together"). The Department for Communities and Local Government is not undertaking specific cohesion work with West Chelmsford.
	However within the new performance framework for local authorities and local authority partnerships there are mechanisms to monitor progress against the new single set of national indicators which includes indicators of community cohesion, and the new local area agreements offer the opportunity to identify priority improvement targets.

English Partnerships: Expenditure

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much English Partnerships has spent since its establishment in each parliamentary constituency in England.

Iain Wright: English Partnerships' expenditure is not available at parliamentary constituency level as it records most of its expenditure by individual local authority. A break down of English Partnerships' spend in each local authority area since 2001-02 has been deposited in the Library of the House. Due to organisational changes, data prior to 2001 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	As some expenditure is incurred at national level a figure for national spend is included for completeness. This covers national investment in financial vehicles like the English Cities Fund, Priority Sites Ltd. and Networkspace; the purchase of national portfolios of land such as that from the NHS in 2005; and research.

Green Belt

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 9 October 2007,  Official Report, columns 563-4W, on green belt, what the loss in hectares of designated green belt was in each Government office region in each year since 1997 for which data is available, excluding additions to the green belt in the same period.

Iain Wright: The gross change in the number of hectares of green belt land that had green belt designation removed is not held centrally. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Housing

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what  (a) proportion and  (b) number of first time buyers in (i) the United Kingdom and (ii) England and Wales purchased properties in the three or four per cent. stamp duty band in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Iain Wright: Data on first time buyers (FTBs) using a mortgage in the UK are available from the Regulated Mortgage Survey which is supplied to Communities and Local Government by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The survey is a sample so data on the total number of FTBs are unavailable.
	However the Council of Mortgage Lenders publishes figures on the total number of FTBs in the UK, but not for England and Wales. In order to estimate numbers of FTBs in the UK in each stamp duty bracket proportions calculated from the Regulated Mortgage Survey have been applied to the published figure of FTBs in the UK.
	The number and proportion of first time buyers in the UK that purchased properties in the 3 and 4 per cent. stamp duty bands during 2006 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number and proportion of first time buyers that purchased properties in the 3 or 4 per cent. stamp duty bands during 2006, UK 
			   3 per cent. stamp duty band  4 per cent. stamp duty band  3 or 4 per cent. stamp duty bands 
			 Number 23,435 2,831 26,266 
			 Percentage 5.8 0.7 6.5 
			  Source: Regulated Mortgage Survey and Council of Mortgage Lenders 
		
	
	As information on the total number of FTBs in England and Wales is not available only the proportions in each stamp duty band can be derived from the Regulated Mortgage Survey.
	The proportion of first time buyers in England and Wales that purchased properties in the 3 and 4 per cent. stamp duty bands is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Proportion of first time buyers that purchased properties in the 3 or 4 per cent. stamp duty bands during 2006, England and Wales 
			   Percentage 
			 3 per cent. stamp duty band 6.3 
			 4 per cent. stamp duty band 0.8 
			 3 or 4 per cent. stamp duty bands 7.1 
			  Source: Regulated Mortgage Survey

Housing: Prices

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what the average price was of a property purchased by a first time buyer in England in  (a) 1996-97 and  (b) the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  what the average price was of a property purchased by a first time buyer in each local authority area in England in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Iain Wright: Using data from the Regulated Mortgage Survey the mix-adjusted average price of a property purchased by a first time buyer in 1997 for England was £58,391.
	The mix-adjusted average price of a property purchased by a first time buyer for England in 2006, the last full-year for which data are available, was £155,089.
	The mix-adjusted average price of a property purchased by a first time buyer in Q3 2007, the latest period available for England was £173,134.

Local Authority Business Growth Incentives Scheme

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what changes the Government has made to the Local Authority Business Growth Incentives Scheme since its introduction; and what further changes her Department is planning.

John Healey: The Local Authority Business Growth Incentives Scheme was announced in the 2002 pre-Budget report and introduced in 2005-06, to reward local authorities for increasing their business rateable value base. The scheme was simplified in its second year by removing the ceiling on payments to local authorities.
	A further change was made during 2007, in response to a challenge to the scheme under Judicial Review. As a result, additional year 1 and 2 payments were made to eligible local authorities in September 2007. These payments reflected increases in rateable value attributable to business expansion.
	Following further consideration of the new legal challenges that have been made against the current Local Authority Business Growth Incentives Scheme and the inherent uncertainty that this causes to the remaining LABGI pot, the Government are today drawing local authorities' attention to their intention to re-consider all aspects of the approach used to distribute the remaining resources available for year 3 of the LABGI Scheme.
	It should also be noted that the sum total of remaining LABGI resources available for distribution will be dependent on the amounts that may be required to meet any potential consequences arising from the court's decisions on the legal challenges for years 1 and 2 of the LABGI Scheme.
	A further announcement will be made shortly.

Planning: Finance

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department and its predecessor spent on research, consultancy and preparation costs for Planning Gains Supplement.

Iain Wright: The Department has undertaken preliminary work to develop and explore the feasibility of a Planning-gain Supplement since 2004. This has included the publication of one consultation document alongside the 2006 pre-Budget report. The costs incurred have been borne by the Department as part of the normal policy development process.

Schools: Finance

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether funds raised by the Milton Keynes tariff on developers and landowners may be used for the capital funding of new schools.

Parmjit Dhanda: Yes, the Milton Keynes Tariff makes a significant contribution towards the capital cost of new schools for the expansion areas in Milton Keynes and requires free land to be provided by the developers for school sites in these areas.
	The precise amounts towards each school is set out in the Milton Keynes Partnership Committee annual business plan which also details other funding sources.

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional money has been made available to the police in the last 12 months for tackling alcohol-related crime in addition to alcohol misuse enforcement campaigns.

Vernon Coaker: In the past 12 months over £1,000,000 has been made available to the police in England and Wales for tackling alcohol related crime.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the rate of breach of antisocial behaviour orders in 2006 will be published.

Vernon Coaker: The latest data on breach of antisocial behaviour orders is due to be published in spring 2008.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Lincolnshire

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-social behaviour orders have been issued in  (a) Cleethorpes constituency and  (b) Great Grimsby constituency in each year since their introduction.

Vernon Coaker: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of antisocial behaviour orders issued at all courts in the Humberside CJS area, as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service, April 1999 to December 2005 
			   Number 
			 April 1999 to May 2000 0 
			 June to December 2000 9 
			 2001 4 
			 2002 4 
			 2003 10 
			 2004 72 
			 2005 137 
			 Total 236 
			  Notes: 1. Previously issued data have been revised following joint Home Office/Court Service data reconciliation exercises. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Identity Documents

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been prosecuted for destroying their identity documents on arrival at a UK airport in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: On 22 September 2004 section 2 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act came into force. Section 2 made failing to produce an immigration document, which satisfactorily establishes their nationality or identity, an offence. It does not differentiate between those who fail to produce an identity document or those who destroy an identity document on arrival.
	From 22 September 2004 until 30 November 2007 Border Control Criminal Investigations Teams secured 1,222 convictions or cautions under section 2. Prior to this date the offence did not exist.
	The data provided are based on locally collated management information, which may be subject to change and does not represent published national statistics.

Offensive Weapons

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many knives have been recovered in knife amnesty initiatives in  (a) England and Wales and  (b) each police force area in each of the last five years.

Vernon Coaker: A national knife amnesty was held from 24 May to 30 June 2006, resulting in the surrender of 89,964 items in England and Wales. A table showing the breakdown of items recovered by force area is as follows.
	Figures for local weapon amnesties are not held centrally.
	
		
			  Knife amnesty—total items surrendered 24 May-30 June 2006 
			  Force  Domestic  Non Dom  Weapons  Of interest  Total 
			 Avon Somerset 1,510 634 129 69 2,342 
			 Bedfordshire 503 172 45 42 762 
			 Cambridgeshire 982 188 465 0 1,635 
			 Cheshire 1,241 457 287 55 2,040 
			 City of London 38 0 4 18 60 
			 Cleveland 729 224 159 41 1,153 
			 Cumbria 1,082 146 46 27 1,301 
			 Derbyshire 2,257 91 623 24 2,995 
			 Dorset 1,029 275 186 8 1,498 
			 Durham 593 326 124 19 1,062 
			 Dyfed Powys 470 188 121 14 793 
			 Devon Cornwall 2,626 601 375 150 3,752 
			 Essex 1,517 446 209 51 2,223 
			 Gloucestershire 702 309 50 0 1,061 
			 GMP 1,172 403 276 14 1,865 
			 Gwent 1,263 419 187 67 1,936 
			 Hampshire 3,209 841 529 57 4,636 
			 Herts 1,659 493 20 22 2,194 
			 Humberside 877 152 261 23 1,313 
			 Kent 2,603 704 421 0 3,807 
			 Lancashire 948 389 187 1 1,525 
			 Leicestershire 950 158 62 0 1,170 
			 Lincs 731 422 260 35 1,448 
			 Merseyside 1,142 630 33 0 1,888 
			 Met 0 0 0 0 9,145 
			 Norfolk (1) [383] [104] [13] [5] 1,723 
			 North Wales 1,152 392 177 10 1,731 
			 North Yorkshire 940 285 346 53 1,624 
			 Northants 1,312 174 140 0 1,626 
			 Northumbria 1,576 667 306 57 2,606 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,086 419 127 17 1,649 
			 South Wales 1,351 505 143 23 2,022 
			 South Yorks 1,143 68 379 42 1,631 
			 Staffordshire 1,200 524 222 64 2,010 
			 Suffolk 975 298 171 0 1,444 
			 Surrey 959 252 89 11 1,311 
			 Sussex 2,479 936 253 89 3,757 
			 Thames Valley 2,475 1,235 620 0 4,330 
			 Warwickshire 494 179 147 36 856 
			 West Mercia 1,523 440 164 0 2,127 
			 West Midlands 1,979 298 510 451 3,238 
			 West Yorkshire 851 332 175 17 1,375 
			 Wiltshire 894 177 120 9 1,200 
			 Totals (2) 52,222 16,595 9,148 1,658 89,864 
			 (1) Breakdown figures for Norfolk relate to items surrendered in first week only. (2) Breakdown figures do not equal final total due to (i).  Note: MPS has supplied a total only figure.

Passports

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which countries do not issue passports that are capable of being read by electronic or automated passport readers; what estimate her Department has made of the number of countries likely to be issuing such passports when the e-border system becomes operational; and if she will make a statement.

Meg Hillier: There are a small number of states still issuing passports that are not machine readable. The e-Borders programme has ensured that its solution is capable of processing such documents at both check-in and the immigration control.
	In addition, from 2008, all visa applicants will be required to provide a 10-finger fingerprint scan and a digital photograph, as part of the application process when applying for a UK visa. Fingerprints and facial images are now in use in 125 countries and the global roll-out will be completed by, or before, March 2008. Nationals from approximately three-quarters of the countries identified as listed require a visa to travel to the UK. We are currently applying a Visa Waiver Test to all non-EEA countries by the end of 2007, with changes to the UK's visa regimes taking place over 2008-09. The Visa Waiver Test uses a range of criteria including the assessment of the level of security and integrity of each individual countries passport.
	Furthermore, from 2008 onwards the UK will also start to introduce immigration documents for foreign nationals resident in the UK which will include fingerprints. Together, these measures will ensure that we can fix the identity of foreign nationals thus check their entitlement to be in the UK.
	 Countries that do not currently have machine readable passports
	Afghanistan
	Algeria
	Bahamas
	Bangladesh
	Bolivia
	Botswana
	Chad
	Colombia
	Congo
	Cook Islands
	Cote d'Ivoire
	Democratic Republic of Congo
	East Timor
	Egypt
	El Salvador
	Equatorial Guinea
	Eritrea
	Gabon
	Ghana
	Guinea
	Guinea-Bissau
	Guyana
	Kiribati
	North Korea
	Libya
	Madagascar
	Marshall Islands
	Mauritania
	Federated States of Micronesia
	Morocco
	Mozambique
	Nauru
	Nepal
	Philippines
	Sao Tome
	Serbia
	Solomon Islands
	Somalia
	Sudan
	Turkey
	Vanuatu
	Montenegro
	Laos
	Turkmenistan.

Passports: Applications

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department has spent on acquiring premises for passport application interview centres.

Meg Hillier: The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) contracted Mapeley Abl Provider Limited to acquire, fit-out and service manage the interview office estate capability. Following a competitive tender a contract award notice (OJEC Ref 06/5 74-77058/EN) was published on 13 April 2006 which gave a total contract value of £71.86 million (ex VAT). To the end of November 2007 IPS incurred costs of £35.33 million (ex VAT) against this contract and total life costs for the contract are not expected to exceed the published total. An additional £1.24 million (ex VAT) has been incurred by IPS on professional services in respect of design, assurance and legal advice in delivery of the estate.

Police: Legislation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what  (a) statutory instruments,  (b) departmental circulars and  (c) other documents she (i) has issued and (ii) plans to issue in the next 12 months consequential to the provisions of police legislation passed since 1996.

Tony McNulty: In the next 12 months I intend to lay before Parliament a number of statutory instruments regarding the Police and Justice Act 2006. In early 2008 I intend to lay four sets of regulations regarding the membership, functions and planning obligations of police authorities and in spring and autumn I intend to lay orders commencing various uncommenced provisions of that Act.
	Since 1996 the Government have enacted 12 pieces of police legislation which have effect in England and Wales, and several Statutory Instruments consequential to these. 65 Home Office circulars have been issued in regard to these acts. In relation to other documents consequential to these acts, these details are not kept centrally.
	A document has been prepared with a full list of these Statutory Instruments and Home Office circulars, and will be placed in the Library of the House.

Sexual Offences

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many registered  (a) sex offenders and  (b) paedophiles were resident in each police authority area in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	Data on registered sexual offenders is published in local multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) Annual Reports which are available in the House Libraries and on the internet at:
	www.probation.justice.gov.uk
	These reports record that the number of registered sexual offenders in each police force area in England and Wales over the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			  Area  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 Avon and Somerset 525 671 674 787 809 
			 Bedfordshire 220 270 335 394 323 
			 Cambridgeshire 282 322 353 387 407 
			 Cheshire 390 429 474 537 577 
			 County Durham 240 265 306 327 348 
			 Cumbria 208 231 253 260 280 
			 Derbyshire 459 479 554 628 609 
			 Devon and Cornwall 637 725 808 879 920 
			 Dorset 273 333 352 379 415 
			 Dyfed-Powys 199 232 275 308 299 
			 Essex 440 542 680 802 735 
			 Gloucestershire 196 231 284 311 311 
			 Greater Manchester 1,278 1,388 1,800 1,643 1,722 
			 Gwent 278 319 365 391 406 
			 Hampshire 849 999 1,035 1,118 1,190 
			 Hertfordshire 225 280 328 428 400 
			 Humberside 544 584 645 715 653 
			 Kent 730 780 954 941 983 
			 Lancashire 637 726 980 941 998 
			 Leicestershire 413 484 508 543 534 
			 Lincolnshire 250 328 380 401 414 
			 London 2,085 2,272 2,657 3,113 3,151 
			 Merseyside 657 791 941 970 975 
			 Norfolk 416 484 547 637 546 
			 North Wales 348 308 389 395 405 
			 North Yorkshire 234' 283 315 338 359 
			 Northamptonshire 200 246 310 344 355 
			 Northumbria 632 750 851 898 870 
			 Nottinghamshire 607 651 708 712 747 
			 South Wales 545 606 765 680 695 
			 South Yorkshire 577 682 911 791 830 
			 Staffordshire 365 458 538 627 676 
			 Suffolk 279 309 368 393 413 
			 Surrey 277 371 371 390 426 
			 Sussex 553 581 752 804 789 
			 Teesside 303 339 393 354 357 
			 Thames Valley 563 763 822 936 982 
			 Warwickshire 183 183 231 232 259 
			 West Mercia 524 565 689 635 655 
			 West Midlands 1,312 1,647 2,158 1,925 1,850 
			 West Yorkshire 1,227 1,431 1,669 1,373 1,387 
			 Wiltshire 255 234 266 316 356 
			 Total 21,415 24,572 28,994 29,983 30,416 
		
	
	Data on the number of paedophiles is not collected as the term "paedophile" is not used in the criminal law. Instead, the law sets out various requirements, including registration, for those who are convicted or cautioned for a wide range of sexual offences. Some offences are defined by the age of the victim but for other offences the age of the victim is immaterial. The data in the annual reports includes all registered sexual offenders.

Car Allowances

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how much his Department has spent on the review of approved mileage allowance payments to date; which non-governmental individuals and organisations the review team has met since the 2007 Pre-Budget Report was published; what liaison there has been between the review team and  (a) the Department for Transport and  (b) the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on this; and what discussions there have been between his Department and trades union representatives on the use of private cars for work purposes by public sector employees as part of the review;
	(2)  what account he plans to take of the levels of carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles when next amending the approved mileage allowance payments scheme;
	(3)  what the reasons were for the extension of the approved mileage allowance payments review; and whether the conclusions of the review will be included in the Budget Report 2008;
	(4)  what effect the increases in advisory fuel rates agreed by HM Revenue and Customs on 29 November 2007 will have on his Department's review of approved mileage allowance payments;
	(5)  whether his Department has conducted further research into the average mileage driven for work purposes since the 2007 Pre-Budget Report;
	(6)  whether the approved mileage allowance payments review will take into account the effect of rising fuel costs on workers who have to use their own cars for work purposes;
	(7)  what account has been taken of the needs of those who live in rural areas and have to use their car for work purposes in the approved mileage allowance payments review;
	(8)  whether he plans to use the approved mileage allowance payments review to incentivise the purchase of newer vehicles by employers; and what effect the review will have on the access of employees to a provided vehicle, with particular reference to those working in the care sector.

Angela Eagle: AMAPs cater for a wide range of car drivers and the rates are designed to take into account all relevant factors. They strike a balance between allowing the running costs of all carts, large and small and delivering the Government's environmental policy.
	The Government wants to ensure that the tax system properly reflects and supports business activity, in addition to promoting fairness and environmentally friendly business travel. We intend to consider the framework of taxation of cars used for business travel as a whole and confirmed at PBR that we will make announcements on future policy in this area, including AMAPs, in Budget 2008.
	As a matter of routine, HM Revenue and Customs has liaised with other relevant Government Departments. A range of stakeholder views has also been canvassed—including from industry and user group representatives—and the government made it clear at PBR that it will continue to consider further representations in the approach to the Budget.

Census

Eric Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether the European Commission or Eurostat will have access to the data collected by the 2011 census;
	(2)  what the timetable is for the census test and the publication of the conclusions from it;
	(3)  what research and work is being conducted by the Office for National Statistics into measuring multiple occupancy for the forthcoming census;
	(4)  whether the Office for National Statistics plans to use  (a) the Ordnance Survey Mastermap product and  (b) the National Land and Property Gazetteer in undertaking the next census as the address source for residential properties.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 7 January 2008:
	As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales I have been asked to reply to your recent questions asking (i) whether the European Commission or Eurostat will have access to the data collected in the 2011 Census; (ii) what the timetable is for the Census test and the publication of the conclusions from it; (iii) whether the Office for National Statistics plans to use  (a) the Ordnance Survey MasterMap product and  (b) the National Land and Property Gazetteer in undertaking the next Census as the address source for residential properties; and (iv) what research and work is being conducted into measuring multiple occupancy for the forthcoming Census. (176378, 176413, 176419, 176421)
	As in previous censuses, statistics from the 2011 round of European censuses, including the UK Census, will be provided to Eurostat as part of a Programme to be agreed by the EU Statistics Programme Committee, on which, as National Statistician, I am represented. The statistics to be provided by each member state will be subject to appropriate National Statistics disclosure control measures that will protect the data from disclosure of any information that would identify an individual person or household.
	A full Evaluation of the Census Test, which was carried out in May, will be published in spring 2008. An initial report on the results of an address checking exercise carried out as part of the Test—'The Coverage of address Registers for 2007 Census Test—Phase 1' is available on the National Statistics website at
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census/2011census/CollectingtheInfo/testingevaluation.asp
	ONS is carrying out further research in order to determine the best approach for ensuring that the 2011 Census is supported by the most complete and up-to-date address information. There is currently no single definitive national address register for England and Wales that fulfils Census requirements. For the 2011 Census there is a need to assess the two competing address products, Ordnance Survey's MasterMap Address Layer 2 (AL2) and the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG). A final decision on the 2011 approach to create the initial address list will be made in 2009, on the basis of research of the address products, and ongoing discussions with suppliers about licensing costs.
	A number of questions are being developed for the 2011 Census in England and Wales that will seek to collect information on multi-occupancy. These cover the type of accommodation and the extent of self-containment. ONS is developing a household frame for the 2011 Census, and will conduct a pre-Census address check, that will identify such addresses; so that the appropriate number of household forms are delivered to each address. Information from local authorities about areas with high levels of multiple occupancy will also be used to inform the enumeration methodology.

Civil Servants: North East Region

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of civil service jobs in the north-east were at each grade in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 7 January 2008:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what proportion of Civil Service jobs in the North East are at each grade. (174693)
	Statistics on Civil Service employment, including regional statistics, are published in Civil Service Statistics, an on-line article available from the National Statistics website.
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/ai1icle.asp?id:=l885
	The latest period for which the statistics are available is the year to September 2006.
	Statistics on responsibility level by region are not published. In order to provide this information, an ad hoc analysis has been required. This analysis is based on the Mandate survey which currently provides approximately 90 per cent coverage of Civil Service departments and agencies.
	
		
			  Civil service—employees in the north-east by responsibility level, 30 September 2006 
			  Full-time equivalents 
			  Responsibility level  Percentage 
			 Senior civil service 0.2 
			 Grades 6/7 2.1 
			 Senior executive officer/higher executive officer 9.3 
			 Executive Officer 20.7 
			 Administrative officer/administrative assistant 66.2 
			 Not known 1.5 
			  Source:  Mandate 
		
	
	Please note that since I April 1996 all departments and agencies have had delegated responsibility for the pay and grading of their employees, except for those in the Senior Civil Service (SCS).
	Departments and agencies have developed their own pay and grading systems, and it has become less appropriate to present statistics in terms of the previous Service-wide grades.
	The distinction between non-industrial and industrial grades has also become less meaningful as departments and agencies have introduced their own grades.
	Instead, the concept of broad 'responsibility levels' is used, in which departmental grades have been assigned to levels broadly equivalent (in terms of pay and job weight) to the former Service-wide grades and in recent years it has become necessary to amalgamate some of these broad levels further.
	Employees on temporary promotion are reported at the higher level rather than at their substantive grade.

Departmental Data Protection

Ben Wallace: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many officials in  (a) his Department and  (b) HM Revenue and Customs are responsible for monitoring and reviewing security arrangements to ensure that policy, standards and procedures for information security remain up-to-date;
	(2)  what dedicated security branches  (a) the Inland Revenue and  (b) HM Customs and Excise had; and how many officials were assigned to each of them;
	(3)  what dedicated security branches HM Revenue and Customs has; and how many officials are assigned to them.

Jane Kennedy: HMRC Security and Business Continuity is responsible for setting standards and policy, for providing specialist advice and guidance and personnel security vetting, and provide independent assurance on security business continuity within the Department. This central role is in addition to the responsibility of individual business units to maintain and monitor security arrangements.
	At 1 December 2007 there were  (a) 7.2 officials in HM Treasury's Group Security Unit and  (b) 73 officials working in HM Revenue and Customs' Security and Business Continuity Team. In addition, it is the responsibility of each individual line manager to ensure that their staff follows the department's security procedures.
	The Inland Revenue had a Departmental Security Unit comprising 41 officials.
	HM Customs and Excise had a Departmental Security Unit comprising 50 officials.
	The figures quoted are on the basis of full-time equivalent staff in post, rounded to the nearest whole number, as at 31 March 2005.

Departmental ICT

James Brokenshire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many attempted hacking or suspected cyber attacks or other malicious computer security breaches were committed against the computer systems of  (a) his Department and ( b) HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last three years for which information is available; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: It is not in the interests of the UK's national security for departments to confirm whether they hold information about attacks against their IT systems. This would enable individuals to deduce how successful the UK is in detecting these attacks and so assist such persons in testing the effectiveness of the UK's IT defences. This is not in the public interest.

Direct Debits

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance has been provided by  (a) his Department and  (b) the Financial Services Authority to banks and building societies taking part in the direct debit guarantee on whether (a) the explicit consent of customers is needed and (b) customers should be informed in writing when a supplier or company wishes to increase the amount that can be deducted from the customer's bank account by direct debit.

Angela Eagle: Neither the Government nor the Financial Services Authority provides guidance to banks and building societies on the direct debit guarantee. This Guarantee is an industry-developed scheme, operated by all banks and building societies that take part in the Direct Debit Scheme. The efficiency and security of the scheme is monitored and protected by banks and building societies.

Disposable Income

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average UK household disposable income was in each of the last five years, broken down by region; what proportion of disposable income on average was spent on energy bills in each year; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 7 January 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the average UK household disposable income was in each of the last five years, broken down by region; and what proportion of disposable income on average was spent on energy bills in each year (175533).
	Estimates of average weekly household disposable income as well as expenditure on electricity, gas and other fuels appear in the ONS report "Family Spending". The latest report for 2005/06 was published on the National Statistics website on 18th January 2007 at http://www:statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=361. Family Spending is the annual report on the Expenditure and Food Survey (EFS), an annual survey of approximately 7,000 households in the UK.
	Table 1 shows average weekly household disposable income for each region of the United Kingdom, while table 2 shows expenditure on electricity, gas and other fuels as a percentage of household disposable income for each of these regions.
	Both tables show data which has been averaged over three years, which is consistent with the presentation of regional data in Family Spending. Estimates which are based on smaller regional sub-samples are subject to larger sampling error, and so an average over three years provides more reliable estimates of regional income and expenditure. Three year averages covering three different time periods have been provided. Data is not available for earlier periods on a consistent basis due to changes in survey methodology which coincided with the introduction of the Expenditure and Food Survey which replaced the old Family Expenditure Survey in 2001-02.
	Household disposable income includes all income from wages and salaries, income from self-employment, income from investment, occupational pensions and social security benefits. All these incomes are recorded after the deduction of any income tax or national insurance contributions.
	
		
			  Table l: Average weekly household disposable income( 1,2,3) —Three year averages , United Kingdom 
			  £ per week 
			   2001-04  2002-05  2003-06 
			 UK 453 469 484 
			 
			 North East 385 382 382 
			 North West 406 435 443 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 393 423 436 
			 East Midlands 439 454 463 
			 West Midlands 418 434 462 
			 East 478 500 525 
			 London 591 592 609 
			 South East 526 530 546 
			 South West 428 449 468 
			 Wales 388 400 411 
			 Scotland 412 429 445 
			 Northern Ireland 390 403 419 
			 (1) Based on weighted data. (2) Gross cash income less the statutory deductions and payments of income tax and national insurance contributions. (3) Government office regions.  Source: Expenditure and Food Survey, ONS. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2:  Average weekly household expenditure on electricity, gas, and other fuels as a proportion of household disposable income( 1,2,3) —Three year averages , United Kingdom 
			  Percentages 
			   2001-04  2002-05  2003-06 
			 UK 3 3 3 
			 
			 North East 3 3 3 
			 North West 3 3 3 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 3 3 3 
			 East Midlands 3 3 3 
			 West Midlands 3 3 3 
			 East 2 2 2 
			 London 2 2 2 
			 South East 2 2 2 
			 South West 3 3 3 
			 Wales 3 3 3 
			 Scotland 3 3 3 
			 Northern Ireland 4 4 4 
			 (1) Based on weighted data. (2) Gross cash income less the statutory deductions and payments of income tax and national insurance contributions. (3) Government office regions.  Source: Expenditure and Food Survey, ONS.

Employment

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the employment rate for  (a) men and  (b) women with fewer than five GCSEs at grade A to C or equivalent in each region was in each quarter for the last 10 years.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, 7 January 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question about the employment rate of (a) men and (b) women with fewer than 5 GCSEs at A-C grade or equivalent in each region in each quarter of the last 10 years. (174882)
	The attached table gives the percentage of people in the categories requested for the three month period ending June each year, from 2001 to 2007. Comparable estimates are not available prior to 2001.
	The LFS estimates at this detailed level are only consistent with the UK population estimates published in February and March 2003 arid they do not incorporate the more recent population estimates that are used in the headline LFS series.
	Estimates are taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	
		
			  Working age population( 1 ) in employment rate( 2 ) with fewer than 5 GCSEs( 3,4 ) April to June 2001-07: Government Office Regions, not seasonally adjusted 
			UK  North East  North West  Yorkshire and the Humber  East Midlands  West Midlands 
			 2001 Male 70 62 65 66 74 70 
			  Female 59 53 58 59 60 57 
			  Total 64 57 61 62 66 63 
			 
			 2002 Male 69 56 62 67 74 71 
			  Female 58 55 57 57 62 56 
			  Total 64 55 60 62 68 63 
			 
			 2003 Male 71 60 68 71 75 71 
			  Female 58 49 57 57 60 56 
			  Total 64 54 62 64 67 63 
			 
			 2004 Male 69 59 65 68 71 69 
			  Female 58 50 58 58 59 57 
			  Total 63 54 61 63 65 62 
			 
			 2005 Male 69 60 65 68 71 71 
			  Female 57 52 54 58 58 57 
			  Total 63 56 59 63 64 64 
			 
			 2006 Male 69 60 62 69 72 69 
			  Female 56 53 53 57 60 55 
			  Total 63 56 57 63 66 62 
			 
			 2007 Male 70 63 65 68 72 68 
			  Female 56 49 51 54 58 53 
			  Total 63 56 58 61 65 61 
		
	
	
		
			East  London  South East  South West  Wales  Scotland  Northern Ireland 
			 2001 Male 79 67 79 76 62 64 61 
			  Female 66 52 68 65 53 57 45 
			  Total 72 59 73 70 57 60 53 
			  
			 2002 Male 78 66 80 78 65 61 58 
			  Female 65 50 66 67 52 59 43 
			  Total 71 58 73 72 58 60 50 
			  
			 2003 Male 79 67 77 76 64 64 61 
			  Female 64 49 64 65 58 60 46 
			  Total 71 58 70 70 61 62 53 
			  
			 2004 Male 77 66 77 76 65 65 58 
			  Female 65 48 62 64 55 60 46 
			  Total 71 57 69 70 60 62 51 
			  
			 2005 Male 77 65 77 75 63 67 60 
			  Female 63 49 63 66 55 57 50 
			  Total 70 57 70 70 59 62 55 
			  
			 2006 Male 74 66 78 75 64 64 62 
			  Female 61 44 64 65 54 58 48 
			  Total 67 55 71 70 59 60 55 
			  
			 2007 Male 77 67 76 73 67 70 66 
			  Female 60 47 64 66 52 61 49 
			  Total 68 57 70 70 59 65 58 
			 (1) Men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59. (2) Number of people in employment of working age, with fewer than five GCSEs as a percentage of all persons of working age with fewer than five GCSEs. (3) Includes all those of working age in employment with qualifications below NVQ level 2, including those with no qualifications. (4) Qualifications below NVQ Level 2 is equivalent to fewer than five GCSEs Note: Comparable data no available for 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Employment: Disabled

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the employment rate for disabled  (a) men and  (b) women was in each region in each quarter of the last 10 years.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 7 January 2008:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about the employment rate for disabled a) men and b) women in each region in each quarter of the last 10 years. I am replying in her absence. (174883)
	The attached table gives the percentage of people in the categories requested for the three month period ending June each year, from 1999 to 2007. Comparable estimates are not available for 1997, 1998 and 2000.
	The LFS estimates at this detailed level are only consistent with the UK population estimates published in February and March 2003 and they do not incorporate the more recent population estimates that are used in the headline LFS series.
	Estimates are taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	
		
			  Employment rate( 1)  of working age( 2)  disabled( 3)  people—April to June 1999-2007—Government office regions, not seasonally adjusted 
			   United Kingdom  North East  North West  Yorkshire and the Humber  East Midlands  West Midlands  East  London  South East  South West  Wales  Scotland  Northern Ireland 
			  1999  
			 Male 48 34 44 47 50 50 58 45 64 60 38 36 30 
			 Female 45 32 38 45 46 46 50 46 55 54 39 40 28 
			 Total 46 33 41 46 48 48 54 46 59 57 38 38 29 
			   
			  2001  
			 Male 49 37 45 46 51 49 56 50 64 57 35 41 37 
			 Female 44 35 44 44 46 43 53 42 57 52 32 39 28 
			 Total 47 36 45 45 49 46 55 46 61 54 34 40 33 
			   
			  2002  
			 Male 49 36 46 50 53 53 60 48 64 57 40 38 36 
			 Female 46 38 45 43 49 47 56 43 57 57 38 35 32 
			 Total 48 36 45 47 51 51 58 45 61 57 39 37 34 
			   
			  2003  
			 Male 51 43 47 51 56 52 59 47 63 57 44 46 39 
			 Female 46 35 46 48 48 44 52 40 55 57 41 42 32 
			 Total 49 39 47 50 52 48 56 44 59 57 43 44 36 
			   
			  2004  
			 Male 52 39 48 53 55 54 61 48 66 61 43 48 39 
			 Female 47 38 44 46 48 49 57 41 55 52 42 46 26 
			 Total 50 39 46 50 51 52 59 44 61 57 43 47 33 
			   
			  2005  
			 Male 51 40 47 51 55 53 60 44 64 58 44 50 35 
			 Female 48 41 46 49 50 46 55 42 60 57 42 45 32 
			 Total 50 41 46 50 53 50 57 43 62 57 43 47 34 
			   
			  2006  
			 Male 52 43 46 53 55 52 60 45 63 61 43 47 42 
			 Female 48 42 47 48 56 46 53 42 57 54 44 46 31 
			 Total 50 43 47 51 56 50 57 44 60 58 44 46 36 
			   
			  2007  
			 Male 51 48 49 49 53 49 59 46 63 55 44 51 33 
			 Female 48 41 44 47 49 47 53 40 60 58 41 48 31 
			 Total 50 44 47 48 51 48 56 43 62 57 42 49 32 
			 (1) Disabled people in employment as a percentage of all disabled people of working age. (2) Men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59. (3 )Includes those who have a long-term disability which substantially limits their day-to-day activities and those who have a tong-term disability which affects the kind or amount of work they might do.  Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)

Employment: Older Workers

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the employment rate of  (a) men and  (b) women aged over 50 years was in each region in each quarter of the last 10 years.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 7 January 2008:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about the employment rate of  (a) men and  (b) women aged over 50 was in each region in each quarter of the last 10 years. (174840)
	Not seasonally adjusted estimates for regional employment rates by age are published each quarter in the Labour Market Statistics Regional First Releases. For figures since quarter 3 2005 please visit the following link;
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/OnlineProducts/LMS_regional.asp
	The attached table shows selected historical quarters and has been derived from the published tables. It shows the employment rate of men and women aged 50 to retirement age for the three month period ending June each year, from 1997 to 2007. These estimates are not-seasonally adjusted.
	Estimates are taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	
		
			  Employment rate of men and women aged 50 to retirement age by region Not seasonally adjusted, April - June 1997 to 2007 
			   United Kingdom  North East  North West  Yorkshire and the Humber  East Midlands  West Midlands  East  London  South East  South West  Wales  Scotland  N orthern  Ireland 
			  Men (50-64)  
			 1997 67 55 62 62 70 72 73 68 75 72 59 63 61 
			 1999 69 54 63 63 72 71 75 69 79 74 59 62 62 
			 2001 70 59 65 68 72 69 77 69 78 76 59 67 61 
			 2002 70 56 64 70 73 71 77 69 78 73 62 64 63 
			 2003 72 61 70 70 77 73 77 70 78 76 64 70 66 
			 2004 72 58 68 71 74 71 76 72 79 75 66 70 67 
			 2005 72 60 65 71 73 73 78 75 79 75 63 72 66 
			 2006 73 65 68 72 75 75 77 72 78 75 67 69 66 
			 2007 73 68 69 69 72 73 79 70 78 76 66 74 64 
			  Women (50-59)  
			 1997 61 51 56 59 64 62 66 62 67 66 56 54 51 
			 1999 63 53 60 61 63 65 68 63 69 69 55 60 53 
			 2001 65 62 61 65 67 65 68 65 72 68 57 64 49 
			 2002 65 59 62 63 68 67 70 64 73 69 56 64 56 
			 2003 67 58 68 68 68 66 71 64 72 69 63 67 57 
			 2004 67 55 66 67 67 68 74 64 72 71 62 68 53 
			 2005 68 63 65 69 71 67 72 67 73 72 63 67 54 
			 2006 68 62 66 69 71 71 71 65 74 72 63 68 57 
			 2007 69 62 65 69 70 71 72 66 77 74 64 72 55 
			  Note:  Comparable data not available for 1998 and 2000.  Source:  ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)

Government Departments: Property

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 6 December 2007,  Official Report, column 1413W, on Government departments: property, how much  (a) total floor area and  (b) vacant space was recorded on the electronic property information mapping service database for each Government department and agency in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Angela Eagle: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.

HM Revenue and Customs' Data

Ben Wallace: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 13 December 2007, to Question 172044 on HM Revenue and Customs' data, what guidance he has given to his officials on responding to parliamentary questions on data loss during the on-going review.

Jane Kennedy: I have referred to the ongoing review where it is appropriate to do so.

Landfill Tax

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how much of the revenue generated from landfill tax revenue in  (a) 2005-06 and  (b) 2006-07 has been allocated to the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste programme;
	(2)  what the total amount of landfill tax revenue was in  (a) 2005-06 and  (b) 2006-07; and how much of that revenue in each year was allocated to his Department;
	(3)  what estimate has been made of the likely income from landfill tax in  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 2008-09;
	(4)  how much of the income from landfill tax in  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 2008-09 has been allocated to the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste programme.

Angela Eagle: Landfill tax revenues are published on the Uktradeinfo website and are available at
	http://www.uktradeinfo.com/index.cfm?task=bulllandfill
	The value of the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste programme was £43 million in 2005-06 and £95 million in 2006-07.
	Forecast landfill tax receipts for 2007-08 and 2008-09 are published in Table B8 of the 2007 pre-Budget report and comprehensive spending review available at
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/F/9/pbr_csr07_annexb_305.pdf
	DEFRA have allocated £125 million to the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste programme in 2007-08.
	The comprehensive spending review allows for the continuation of funding for business resource efficiency. DEFRA have not yet announced allocations for 2008-09.

Migrant Workers

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Yeovil of 19 October 2007,  Official Report, columns 1353-55W, on migrant workers, how many of the 0.3 million additional UK born workers of working age in work between 1997 and 2007 had previously claimed benefit.

Jane Kennedy: holding answer 18 December 2007
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 7 January 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about how many of the 0.3 million additional UK-born workers of working age in work between 1997 and 2007 had previously claimed benefits. (175299)
	The estimate of 0.3 million additional UK-born workers of working age between 1997 and 2007 was taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The LFS does not collect information on whether a person was claiming benefit before they entered employment.

National Insurance Contributions

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many computer—generated letters were sent out by HM Revenue and Customs notifying a shortfall in national insurance contributions for the 2005-06 tax year; and how many were sent in error.

Jane Kennedy: To date HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have sent 2.41 million letters to customers advising them of a potential shortfall in their National Insurance contributions for 2005-06. They expect to issue a further 340,000 in January 2008.
	A relatively small number of letters will have been sent in error but it is not possible to determine precisely how many.

Revenue and Customs: Correspondence

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what Tax Credit Office targets there are for responding to letters from hon. and right hon. Members; and how many letters received responses outside the target period in each  (a) month and  (b) quarter since 1 November 2006.

Jane Kennedy: HM Revenue and Customs have a target to respond to the majority of letters from hon. and right hon. Members within three weeks.
	The number of letters that were not sent a reply within three weeks for the period requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  MP Letters 
			   15 working days 
			  2006  
			 November 323 
			 December 364 
			   
			  2007  
			 January 305 
			 February 410 
			 March 434 
			 April 187 
			 May 219 
			 June 301 
			 July 437 
			 August 382 
			 September 392 
			 October 374 
		
	
	The TCO is working hard to improve the speed and quality of responses.
	As the hon. Member is aware, the TCO is currently dealing with an administrative problem which has resulted in some delays.

Revenue and Customs: Data Protection

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what control HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has over the access to and use of data after it has left HMRC's computers and been sent to  (a) the Student Loans Company,  (b) the National Audit Office and  (c) other institutions; and what records HMRC maintains of that use and access.

Jane Kennedy: HMRC protects its information by requiring bodies receiving data to seek HMRC consent before it may be used for certain purposes, or disclosed further. Controls may also be set out in memorandum of understanding, partnership agreements or other documents, defining the relationship between HMRC and the body receiving the data, including the specific procedures and protocols governing the use of information.
	Once data has left HMRC it is the responsibility of the receiving body, including the Student Loans Company or National Audit Office, to ensure that any further use complies with the law including the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998.

Smuggling

Justine Greening: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance is given to HM Revenue and Customs customs officers on the exercise of powers of arrest in relation to individuals from whom seizures of goods are made; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: HMRC are not able to seize goods illegally.
	HM Revenue and Customs officers engaged in operational customs work have powers of arrest under s.138 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 and s.24(2) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
	All officers involved in work areas that require them to exercise the power of arrest, including those involved in making arrests of individuals from whom seizures of illegal goods are made, receive training in arrest procedures, policy and relevant law as part of their core training for the role. In addition, standing instructions on arrest law and procedure are maintained as a source of reference for all officers involved in works areas that require them to exercise the power of arrest.
	Only staff who have received full training in relevant law and procedure are authorised to effect an arrest.

Welfare Tax Credits: Overseas Residence

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the likelihood of tax credit claimants not telling HM Revenue and Customs when they take up residence abroad; how many tax credit claims were found to be invalid because a claimant has gone abroad in the latest period for which figures are available; what research has been carried out into the effectiveness of checks to protect against wrong or fraudulent claims by workers who have gone abroad; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not available.
	HM Revenue and Customs have robust strategies in place for tackling non-compliance including a range of checks throughout the life of each claim. And they continually refine and develop their processes to ensure they can tackle those who seek to claim awards to which they are not entitled, and respond quickly when new compliance risks are identified.